Vince Cable wasn’t with the programme. Rupert Murdoch should have government ministers declaring love for him, not war with him.
The decision of whether Murdoch can take over all of Sky has now been passed over to culture secretary Jeremy Hunt, who once gushingly said we “wouldn't be saying that British TV is the envy of the world if it hadn't been for him [Murdoch]”. This doesn't just seriously similarly call into question his bias towards Murdoch, but also his taste in telly.
Murdoch’s Sun newspaper backed the Tories at this year’s election. Peter Mandelson said this was because the two had done a deal for “favours”. Lord Mandelson would know about such things.
What politicians of all stripes should be doing on this is not declaring love or war, but declaring their interest and bowing out of the decision. As Hunt himself said earlier this year about Ofcom’s ruling that Sky had to cut its charges for Sky Sports:
“For matters of policy, we think it should be ministers who make the decision but for matters like competition issues, it is very important that is made at arm's length to politicians.”
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