More than 100 MPs back powers to block UAE Telegraph takeover
More than 100 MPs have backed powers for Parliament to block the proposed Abu Dhabi takeover of The Telegraph, calling it a “dangerous Rubicon” that must not be crossed.
Led by Robert Jenrick, the former housing secretary, the cross-party group of MPs called on Rishi Sunak to support a Lords amendment that would give MPs and peers a veto on ownership of UK news media by a foreign state.
In a letter to Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary, they said: “If major newspaper and media organisations can be purchased by foreign governments, the freedom of the press has the potential to be seriously undermined.
“No other democracy in the world has allowed a media outlet to be controlled by a foreign government. This is a dangerous Rubicon we should not cross.”
The letter was signed by a string of former Cabinet ministers, including Sir John Redwood, Therese Coffey, Sir Simon Clarke, Robert Buckland, Stephen Crabb, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Theresa Villiers and Sir Geoffrey Cox.
It includes 100 MPs signing publicly, along with a number of others who have signed privately. Most of the signatories are Conservatives. Four Labour MPs, including Liam Byrne and Sarah Champion, have signed, along with a number of Liberal Democrats.
The group signalled support for an amendment to the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill, tabled by Baroness Stowell, a Tory peer, that would create the new powers for Parliament.
The Bill comes before the Lords next week and, if the amendment passes there, it will be heard by MPs in the Commons later. Labour is set to debate its position on Baroness Stowell’s Bill on Wednesday.
Mr Jenrick said: “Our free press is a cornerstone of our democracy. We must do everything we can to protect it. Takeovers of news organisations by foreign governments should not only face the usual scrutiny by regulators and Government, but also from elected representatives in Parliament as a final bulwark for press freedom.
“From my conversations, it is clear there is very wide cross-party support in the House of Commons for Baroness Stowell’s amendment. I urge the Government to accept it, or have it forced upon them.”
The proposed takeover of The Telegraph is currently in limbo pending investigations by Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
RedBird IMI, a fund 75pc backed by Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the vice-president of the United Arab Emirates, has positioned itself to take control in a complex £1.2 billion debt deal with the Barclay family, which values the company at £600 million.
It has pledged to protect editorial independence with legally-binding undertakings that the UAE will be a passive investor only and that management of The Telegraph will be the sole responsibility of RedBird, the US private equity firm providing a quarter of the purchase price.
The Barclay family remain owners of The Telegraph but are barred by law from exercising any control. Ofcom is scheduled to deliver its report to Ms Frazer by March 11.
She would then be able to block the deal following further investigation by the CMA of its potential threat to press freedom.
In their letter to Ms Frazer, the MPs said: “There are clearly well-evidenced concerns about the potential for editorial influence and censorship by the UAE that merits intense scrutiny. The free press is a key pillar of our democracy.
“As you will be aware, a group of crossbench peers in the Lords led by Baroness Stowell, Lord Anderson, Lord Robertson and Lord Forsyth have tabled an amendment to the Digital Markets Bill which would prevent the acquisition of a UK news media organisation by a foreign power without the approval of both legislative chambers.
“This would provide an additional and critical bulwark for press freedom in this country. There is widespread support for the amendment in the House of Lords. As MPs following the debates in the other place closely, we urge the Government to accept the amendment in the House of Lords.”
In a submission to Ofcom seen by The Telegraph, Brian Dooley, a Middle East expert, warned that fundamental human rights standards were being “flagrantly transgressed” in the UAE, including “regular, arbitrary detention” as well as examples of unlawful surveillance and torture.
His report, funded by friends of a group of activists who were arrested and placed on mass trial in the UAE last year, said: “These particularly relevant considerations should dissuade the UK Government from allowing this proposed takeover to proceed.
“The UAE’s bid is, in fact, part of a broader pattern of the UAE’s use of investment to seek to distract the United Kingdom from these egregious abuses.”
Around 84 Emirati dissidents were subjected to a mass trial during the Cop28 climate summit last year on charges of terrorism. They have been recognised by international human rights groups as activists, academics and lawyers.
Ahmed Al-Nuaimi, a UAE national unlawfully convicted in an earlier mass trial, who has been living in the UK, said: “I have been living in exile from the UAE for simply signing my name to a letter which imagined a more democratic UAE. I have been tried in absentia and warned that if I ever go back I will be immediately detained.
“The UAE is not the friendly Gulf country it likes to portray itself as. Please listen to those of us who know the truth of human rights there and who know just how much abuse can take place in the UAE.
“It would be a tragedy for the British press to be bought by anyone associated with the UAE, and I am urging the British Government to intervene in this very harmful sale.”
