Lib Dems slam Govt for forcing through foreign state news ownership in face of “historic” cross-party resistance

EMBARGO: Immediate Release

The Liberal Democrats have slammed the Government’s move to disregard cross-party opposition in the Lords and force through legislation allowing foreign states to own a larger stake in British news outlets.

The Government has pushed through legislation that will allow foreign states to buy substantial stakes in UK newspapers in a “dark and dangerous” move for the country, the Liberal Democrats have said. Peers voted in favour of the legislation.

Despite the loss, a substantial 155 peers from Labour, Conservative, crossbench and non-aligned political backgrounds voted in favour of the Liberal Democrat motion.

Lib Dem peer Chris Fox, sponsor of the rare “fatal motion” that would have scrapped the legislation in its entirety, condemned the move. He described the legislation as endangering our “historic” freedom of the press and risking “playing into the hands” of potentially malicious states.

Under the approved legislation, the cap will now rise to 15% – meaning foreign states could be able to own substantial stakes in newspapers in the UK.

However, there’s still confusion around how the legislation will work in practice, with warning bells ringing regarding the ability of separate states to ‘stack’ their 15% stakes in order to take over much larger stakes in UK media assets.

The Government have responded to Lib Dem criticism of this loophole by pledging to introduce a further secondary statutory instrument, not expected to come to Parliament until the autumn. The Lib Dems are warning of a frenzied ‘window of opportunity’ that could be taken advantage of by foreign states to buy up huge shares in UK news outlets before the ‘stacking’ loophole is closed.

Commenting, Chris Fox, Liberal Democrat Business Spokesperson in the Lords and sponsor of the fatal motion, said:

“The Government’s move to force through this legislation in the face of historic cross-party resistance is reckless. I would like to thank all Peers who put the long-term future of our media first and voted to back my motion.

“It will endanger our prized freedom of the press, and risks playing into the hands of potentially malicious states. This is a bad move that starts Britain down a dark and dangerous path.

“Thanks to the Government’s haphazard actions, alarm bells are already ringing that multiple foreign states could ally to buy their way into newsrooms. The Minister may have committed to correcting that farcical error later this year – but many from all parties are deeply concerned that this botched job could see British media outlets rushed into damaging deals.

“The Liberal Democrats and like-minded colleagues across Parliament will continue to hold the Government’s feet to the fire and limit the damage in any way we can.”

ENDS

Notes to editor:

Result can be found here