Stopping the UAE takeover of The Telegraph is an “absolute no-brainer”, a peer stated because the Government was urged to hurry up its choice on the deal.
During an pressing query within the House of Lords, members lined as much as demand that Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary, and Ofcom, the broadcasting watchdog, expedite their investigations into the takeover.
Lord Forsyth, the Tory peer and former Scottish secretary, stated: “For goodness sake, it is an absolute no-brainer that you do not wish a national newspaper to be owned, however indirectly, by what is proposed. So why should it take so long for Ofcom and everyone else to come to the obvious conclusion and put us out of our misery?”
Baroness Stowell, a former Tory chief within the Lords, urged Ms Frazer to rush up, saying: “It seems to most people that the reasons for objecting to this deal are quite fundamental and on points of principle, not necessarily points of technicality, and it shouldn’t require a great deal of her time for her to reach her decision.”
Lord Parkinson, the tradition minister, stated he couldn’t remark as a result of Ms Frazer was performing in a quasi-judicial capability.
RedBird IMI, which is 75 per cent funded by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the vp of the UAE, has put ahead a bid to purchase The Telegraph and The Spectator.
Lord Bassam, a Labour peer, stated he discovered himself “in the rather somewhat novel position of fiercely defending the interests of The Telegraph newspaper group and Spectator in the interest of press freedom”.