All 1 Debates between Lord Watson of Wyre Forest and Alex Sobel

Mon 19th Nov 2018

Johnston Press: Administration

Debate between Lord Watson of Wyre Forest and Alex Sobel
Monday 19th November 2018

(6 years ago)

Commons Chamber
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Alex Sobel Portrait Alex Sobel (Leeds North West) (Lab/Co-op)
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There are three Johnston Press titles in my constituency—

Lord Watson of Wyre Forest Portrait Tom Watson
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Name them.

Alex Sobel Portrait Alex Sobel
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Thanks. One of those papers, The Yorkshire Post, is vital to our campaign for One Yorkshire devolution. Without The Yorkshire Post, we would not have been able to bring forward a diverse set of parties.

On 14 October, in The Observer, Roy Greenslade produced a devastating critique of the way in which what has happened to Johnston Press came to pass. When the banks failed, they were deemed to be too big to fail. Now the same thing has happened. When Johnston Press ceased to be a family firm, huge acquisitions were made based on debt. Will the Secretary of State be looking at future acquisitions, whether they are debt-backed or not, and will he be looking into the media industries?