Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with Cabinet Colleagues on the proposed sale of the Observer.

The Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport has not had any discussions with Cabinet Colleagues on the proposed sale of the Observer. Consideration of media mergers is a quasi-judicial decision for the DCMS Secretary of State to undertake alone, on the basis of the evidence available to her, without reference to presentational or political considerations.