Media: Ownership

Lord Steel of Aikwood Excerpts

Thursday 11th November 2010 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Rawlings]

The noble Lord, Lord Borrie, asked this question in the debate. I thought that I had assured him that Ofcom is not going on to the scrapheap, but it will be reviewed. I can assure him that, although changes will be made to the economic network regulatory functions of Ofcom, it is not being scrapped.

[Lord Steel of Aikwood]

In reference to the third part of her Answer, does the Minister recall that, at the end of the excellent debate last Thursday, the noble Lord, Lord Puttnam, referred to a phrase used about the coalition by my noble friend Lord Razzall in saying that for some of us this issue would be a “significant marker”. Will she recognise that my noble friend was understating the case and that the transfer of ownership of a major television news station into the hands of the owner of four national newspapers, regardless of whose hands they are, would be an illiberal media outrage and wholly unacceptable?

[Baroness Rawlings]

We had the debate last week, when we went through this. It is not in the hands of the Government; it is in the hands of the Secretary of State. It is in the hands of the Competition—