Downing Street slaps down minister who publicly backed sale of Daily Telegraph to a UAE fund
Downing Street today slapped down a minister who publicly endorsed the sale of The Daily Telegraph to a fund based in the United Arab Emirates.
Investment minister Dominic Johnson dismissed ‘sentimental’ objections to the deal, which Tory MPs have warned could put at risk the newspaper’s editorial independence and damage media plurality.
Lord Johnson of Lainston said the UK had to be an ‘open economy’ and praised the UAE as a ‘first class and extremely well-run country’.
A Government source said Lord Johnson was voicing a ‘personal view’.
And No 10 suggested ministers should not be stating their views in public after Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said last week she was ‘minded’ to order a public interest intervention notice before allowing the deal to go ahead.
The Telegraph titles and the Spectator magazine were previously owned by the Barclay family, but are now controlled by Lloyds Bank, to which the family owes £1.2 billion
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman refused to endorse Lord Johnson of Lainston’s comments
RedBird IMI is backed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, of Abu Dhabi, who is deputy prime minister of the UAE and owns Manchester City
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman refused to endorse Lord Johnson’s comments, adding: ‘You will know there is now a formal process in place so I am limited in what I can say.
‘The Culture Secretary believes that one or more of the public interest considerations may be triggered so she has set out that process and we are now awaiting evidence as part of that.’
But the spokesman stressed that Rishi Sunak had highlighted the importance of the free press when asked about the proposed Telegraph deal during an interview with The Mail on Sunday.
He added: ‘The PM has said that a free press and competitive media sector is vital for our democracy.
‘You have seen from the actions of the secretary of state, who has an obligation to intervene where there is a public interest to do so – that’s what’s taken place. There is now a process which has started.’
Tory MPs have urged ministers to block the sale to an Abu Dhabi-based investment company over concerns about media independence.
The company – RedBird IMI – is backed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, of Abu Dhabi, who is deputy prime minister of the UAE and owns Manchester City.
Ministers, including Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch, who is Lord Johnson’s boss, and security minister Tom Tugendhat, are also said to have concerns.
The UAE is ranked 145 out of 180 in the 2023 International Press Freedom Index compiled by the group Reporters Without Borders.
Its news outlets are closely monitored and criticism of its rulers and institutions is illegal.
A group of Tory MPs wrote to ministers to say the proposed takeover ‘represents a potential threat to press freedom in this country’.
Lord Johnson, who is welcoming UAE leaders and others to a global investment summit in London today, doubled down on his comments.
Speaking to reporters at the summit, he declined to comment directly on the Telegraph deal, but said the UAE was a ‘great partner for the UK’, adding: ‘Where it is possible I welcome their investment.’
Earlier, he told Politico that he backed the deal.
He said he had ‘always been immensely impressed by the calibre of leadership’ in the Gulf state, adding: ‘My view is that we remain an open economy and it’s very important we remain an open economy if we’re to have the wealth and investment to power this country.
‘My formula is always to revert to, “What is going to make this country richer and more prosperous and secure?”‘
In response to concerns by MPs, he said: ‘We can be quite sentimental about some of our so-called treasured assets… the reality is that media and information has moved on and clearly most of us today don’t buy a physical newspaper or necessarily go to a traditional news source.’
Former minister Neil O’Brien tweeted in response: ‘Non-democratic foreign government wants to get control of two flagship UK media institutions.
‘UK Government says we mustn’t get “sentimental about some of our so-called treasured assets”.’
The Telegraph titles and the Spectator magazine were previously owned by the Barclay family, but are now controlled by Lloyds Bank, to which the family owes £1.2 billion.
The family has proposed to repay the loans with cash from RedBird IMI, a joint venture between RedBird Capital, an American company, and International Media Investments, a vehicle backed by Sheikh Mansour.
It has said that it would be ‘fully committed to maintaining the existing editorial teams of the publications and believe that editorial independence for these titles is essential’.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has written to Lloyds, the Barclay family and RedBird IMI signalling that Ms Frazer will issue a public interest intervention notice.
The minister has said that she is minded to instruct Ofcom to investigate whether the takeover could restrict the Telegraph’s coverage and officials said she ‘remains concerned about the potential for influence over the Telegraph’s newspaper operations’.
Mr Sunak is due to travel to the UAE for the Cop-28 climate summit this week.
He is expected to meet Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, the Cop president, who is also chairman of IMI.
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