Murdoch and BSkyB

A number of constituents have asked me what my views are on Murdoch and his attempt to takeover BSkyB. In recent weeks since the telephone hacking scandal broke in earnest, a lot of politicians came out against Murdoch’s takeover of BSkyB and he has withdrawn his offer. I was the first MP to table a motion in Parliament calling for Murdoch’s bid for BSkyB to be referred to the Competition Commission and back in March when the Government Minister, Jeremy Hunt, refused to do so I went on television to condemn this. Along with my colleague, Austin Mitchell, I was the only MP to do so. It was difficult to find MPs at that stage willing to speak out for fear of what attack the Murdoch media would launch against them. I was glad that I did and I will continue to speak out on issues like this no matter what the risk is, because it is the right thing to do. Back in 2004 I moved amendments to the then Government’s Employment Bill to include a conscience clause for journalists which would enable them to refuse any instruction by their editor or owner of their paper that was against the NUJ or Press Complaints Commission Code of Conduct. This would have included things like hacking or blagging. The then Government rejected my amendment because they said it would interfere in the rights of the employers. Neither the Conservative nor Liberal Parties supported me either. In the debate in parliament on hacking last week I expressed the hope that the Government will introduce the conscience clause now. This is the BBC interview I gave back in March expressing my opposition to Murdoch when most other MPs were keeping their heads down.

submitted by John on 31 Jul 2011 at 00:18