Sky and 21st Century Fox: Proposed Merger

Lord Grade of Yarmouth Excerpts

Thursday 29th June 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord McNally (LD)]

My Lords, one of the advantages of this place is that there is a certain continuity. I have been speaking on, and dealing with, media matters for the last 20 years. I recall that at some point in the mid-1990s the then Press Complaints Commission brought in another charter on good behaviour. I remember talking to a very senior Times executive and asking, “What about this new charter? If you checked a story against the responsibilities under the charter and decided that it would be wrong to publish that story but the next day the Daily Mail led on it, what would happen?”. He said, “That’s easy. Rupert would fire me”. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Collins: one has to read the book as well as look into the crystal ball in these matters, and the ability of the Murdochs to give assurances and then ignore them is well documented.

One thing that sticks in my mind is Mr Murdoch’s appearance before the Select Committee, at which he said that it was the “most humble” day of his life—a curious choice of words—yet now, a few years later, he and most of the gang who were accused of the most heinous crimes are back in place and moving forward. The reality is that the Murdochs are an ever-incoming tide. I appreciate that the Secretary of State needs to follow a quasi-judicial role and, my goodness, she is going to need the advice of the Minister at the Bench as she now tiptoes through that minefield, because the Murdochs always have some very expensive lawyers at hand. However, I hope she does not get involved in a game of poker in which it is said, “We’ll give you these assurances”, to which the answer is, “No, they won’t do”, and that is followed by, “Well, what about these assurances?”. Let us stick with this referral.

I look forward to reading the Ofcom justification of the “fit and proper” finding. One can assume only that the narrow legal determination of “fit and proper” in the present legislation is far too low, and I hope the Government will now look at the whole question of whether we need to strengthen plurality, public interest and the fit and proper person test in the existing legislation.

I join the noble Lord, Lord Collins, in saying that Leveson 2 is now essential. The Government put it in their manifesto, despite the previous Conservative Government having committed to dropping Section 40. The electorate said no. We should now proceed with Leveson 2 with all speed. There is also now a need to look at the powers of Google and the internet providers.

Finally, I am a little worried about the deadline of 14 July. That is only six days before both Houses rise for the summer. There is an old habit of various decisions being rushed out on the last day before a Summer Recess. Can we be assured that any decisions on this matter will be taken only when Parliament is in session?

[Lord Grade of Yarmouth (Con)]

My Lords—

[Noble Lords]

Order!

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Grade of Yarmouth]

My apologies to the House. That is the first occasion in my career when I have been ahead of my time.

I thank the Minister for repeating the Statement. I have 30 or 40 years’ experience of these issues, arguing with different Governments and different regulators as they have changed their badge over the years. I am also a veteran of many skirmishes with the Murdoch empire and carry many, many scars. He once asked my Uncle Lew, the late Lord Grade of Elstree, to have a word with me about my antagonism towards the Murdoch empire. So I am not an apologist.

The common theme throughout all broadcasting legislation, broadcasting rows and ownership rows is to keep politics out of broadcasting. That is absolutely essential. We are now at a point where we have a regulator, Ofcom, which has proved itself to be incredibly effective, incredibly competent, incredibly independent and very much evidence-based, as it has to be as a statutory regulator. I hope the Minister will agree that the processes that have led to today’s Statement deserve to be seen as a ringing endorsement of Ofcom’s competence and independence.

I do not believe that the laws and rules governing media independence, plurality, mergers and so on are deficient at all, and I think the Statement proves that the system is working extremely well. I caution those who would argue for more political intervention in matters of media ownership and media plurality. We should also bear in mind that you have to have a very good reason indeed, other than a dislike of Murdoch and all his works, to interfere in the wishes of shareholders in a major transaction of this kind. This is a ringing endorsement of the process and of confidence in Ofcom, and we await the outcome.