Not going to lie, it was good to see that the Competition and Markets Authority provisionally blocked the Murdoch bid to take over those bits of Sky they don’t already own. The decision was made on the grounds that it would give the Murdoch family too much influence across UK media. This isn’t over yet. A final report will be submitted to the Government by May.
Vince Cable, who has a bit of form on Murdoch, it has to be said. was adamant that this should be final
The CMA has reached the correct decision on the Murdochs’ attempt to take full control of Sky. The full takeover would have concentrated too much of the British media in the hands of just one family.
Plurality of media ownership is vital. It is not in a democracy’s interests to allow one group to have such potential power to shape public opinion. This should now be the end of the matter.



4 Comments
I get fed up with all these people, who do not live here any more, such as Murdoch, Nigel Lawson, Richard Branson etc., telling us what is good for us. You could add to that list Lord Rothermere, who allows his newspapers to publish the kind of xenophobic rubbish that just stokes up the fires of division and all those so called ‘entrepreneurs’ who, whilst still benefiting from what our country has to offer them in lifestyle, are quite happy to move their production lines to wherever the cheapest labour rates are (usually the Far East).
I notice that Mr Murdoch appears to have more or less thrown in the towel across the pond, as he realises that even he can’t compete with the really big boys over there. Perhaps he’s hoping that we may be a softer touch in good old Blighty. Let’s prove him wrong.
@ John Marriott You can add Ashcroft to your list. I mentioned a while ago that I bumped into him about six months ago in a Flanders War Cemetery – accompanied by a certain M.E.P. name of Farage N.
Aaron Banks is another character with an interesting background.
Brings to mind the old Donald Peers song, “In a shady nook, by a babbling brook”.
Ah, Donald Peers. I remember him well. From Wales, the land of song, wasn’t he? He made a bit of a comeback towards the end of the 1960s with songs like “Please don’t go” and “Give me one more chance”. With reference to the characters mentioned I suppose the answer to the first song would be “Yes” and the second would be “No”!
Why does it take a report costing who knows how much to reinforce what is blindingly obvious?