The Telegraph and Spectator titles are heading back on the market, Guido hears, after RedBird IMI informed the government it intends to step back from the acquisition process. Whether that remains RedBird’s final position remains to be seen…
An announcement from DCMS is expected in the next few minutes. The auction will be run by (George Osborne shop) Robey Warshaw and Raine. Market sources involved say that there is ‘considerable’ interest in the assets – mainly from ‘beyond the UK’ with number of funds lining up to take a look. There is certainly market interest at buying the trophy assets at a premium – the question (again) is who will be able to navigate a successful bid. Nervous times at Telegraph towers…
UPDATE: Statement from Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer:
The parties have signalled their intention to withdraw from the deal. Throughout this process I have raised concerns about the potential impact of this deal on free expression and accurate presentation of news, and I took steps to ensure that media freedom was protected while there was an investigation into those concerns.
I will now allow the parties to conduct an orderly transition and I will monitor the outcome with a view to taking any further regulatory action as required under the Enterprise Act.
The free press is a cornerstone of our democracy, and we cannot take it for granted. That is why I used my powers as Culture Secretary to investigate this deal.
More widely, it is why we are banning any ownership, influence, or control by foreign states of our newspapers and news magazines. We are acting to ensure that we retain the ability to step in where necessary to protect the integrity and independence of these publications, given the unique role they play in our democracy.”
Downing Street denies blocking Penny Mordaunt penning an article for The Sunday Telegraph on defence spending this weekend – contrary to whispers going around. Downing Street claims they didn’t block Penny from writing for the paper, despite it being pulled at the last minute according to Fleet Street sources. Penny is said to be pretty angry about it…
Penny’s been hitting the headlines recently over speculation of a potential leadership bid before the election, and it looks like Downing Street are now trying to rein her in. One Westminster source says:
“Open season on the PM is over. She can either be a member of the cabinet or she can campaign to lead it. She cannot expect to be allowed to do both.”
On the offence…
UPDATE: Downing Street says that Penny’s piece was written for the Mail on Sunday, who rejected it. Another op-ed had already been organised in The Sunday Telegraph so Penny’s was agreed to go to them next week. Penny’s team blames internal miscommunication for the mishap. Their robust response shows the degree of concern about Penny being seen to be offside…
Nigel Farage had a feisty interview with Camilla Tominey today for The Telegraph. Tominey pushed Nigel on what his career plans may be, to which which the former Brexit Party Leader responded in a fairly testy way. One thing confirmed is that he wouldn’t “join the Tories even if they asked him”…
Unsurprisingly, he blasted the Tories, wanting to see them be them totally “replaced“, saying that although Reform will not “do well” in the local elections, he still thinks they’ll get more votes than the Conservatives in the election. In terms of his own future, he has three options: carry on with his GB News job, move to Florida (though he “can’t remember” whether Trump has offered him a job), or stand for Reform and make a return to politics. He didn’t rule out the third option…
The Telegraph splash this morning will make glum reading for the Tories as the most detailed survey in five years from YouGov shows the Conservatives are heading for an electoral wipeout as big as their defeat in 1997, when Tony Blair entered Downing Street. The survey of 14,000 people put the Tories retaining just 169 seats, while Labour take 385, giving Sir Keir Starmer a 120-seat majority. A huge swing from just 5 years ago when Boris won an 80-seat majority.
Along with more than half the Tory seats won in 2019, eleven cabinet ministers, including Jeremy Hunt and Penny Mordaunt, are expected to lose their seats. Lord Frost wrote in The Telegraph that the “stunningly awful” results are thanks to dissatisfaction on policy, above all, immigration rather than Labour popularity. Rishi will be hoping he can finally get flights off the ground to Rwanda soon, though even if that does happen, it’ll likely not be enough…
According to YouGov, three-quarters of the voters who have left the Tories are Leave voters, with Reform UK drawing millions of voters from the Conservatives, costing the Tories 96 seats, and helping Labour take the keys to Number 10 – without even winning a seat. The former Brexit party will attract both those traditional Tory voters and the Brexit voters who switched from Labour to Conservative in 2019 in order to “Get Brexit Done“. This is what happens when you have a government and Number 10 full of Remainers.
Lucy Frazer, the culture and media secretary, issued a much anticipated Public Interest Intervention Notice last night over the UAE-backed bid to take control of The Telegraph. Fears over how a UAE backed ownership will “affect the free expression of opinion and accurate presentation of news” have halted the process. The PIIN means the Competition and Markets Authority and Ofcom will each have until January 26th to investigate the deal. Though if further issues arise, it could take up to six months…
Read the Frazer’s full statement below:
