http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12631875

 

Oh, bugger me, you know, this is just literally an absolute shock. A bolt out of the blue... I mean, who'd've thought eh..? You know, Vince Cable (openly hostile to Murdoch) gets stripped of his powers and then Jeremy "Rhyming Slang" Hunt gets put onto the job, well, GEE, who'd've thought HE would be some sort of spineless yes-man who would just rubber-stamp it eh.....? Blimey, this is quite literally totally unexpected, I mean, a Tory MP just basically doing what he's told by News International....... :rolleyes:

Rupert Murdoch would be high on my (and many other peoples') list of people we'd like to see vanish off the face of the Earth. Hateful man, although there was nothing in the slighest bit surprising about this. I'd love to be there when he's watching coverage of the next election :lol:

Very bad move for everyone involved, although let's no pretend that it's because of the Tory government. Had Labour still been in power, it still would've gone ahead.

 

 

Very bad move for everyone involved, although let's no pretend that it's because of the Tory government. Had Labour still been in power, it still would've gone ahead.

 

Unfortunately true... and it seems, sadly, that Labour are ill-advisedly (and unnecessarily) sucking up to Murdoch all over again, shown by Ed Miliband ordering the shadow cabinet not to talk about the phone-hacking scandal, and their muted response to this today...

 

But, all the same, it is quite STUNNING that the government have actually gone directly AGAINST the judgement from the Competition Commission (which said there NEEDED to be further investigation) - they couldn't have made it look more like a stitch-up if they tried! :lol:

The excuse is that Murdoch has made a concession in that Sky News will become a separate company so that will remain 30% owned by News Corp as it is now. Of course, most people won't see that as much of a concession.

The excuse is that Murdoch has made a concession in that Sky News will become a separate company so that will remain 30% owned by News Corp as it is now. Of course, most people won't see that as much of a concession.

 

Turns out it's actually 40%. And, no, it's no kind of concession at all. Even at 20% it's still dubious... And I wonder about the "independence" of this board of directors which woul be appointed.. Murdoch could theoretically stack it with ex News Corp types, or maybe even his son James.. All they would have to do is resign from News Corp, sell their shares, and technically, they would then be independent, with no stake as such in the company..

 

Total NON-SHOCK story of the decade so far.

 

It's also hilarious because Sky News actually LOSES money, so the fact that part of the deal was to give it up makes it even more laughable- and since when has Sky News been editorially non-biased. :lol: Big fat LOL.

 

Turns out it's actually 40%. And, no, it's no kind of concession at all. Even at 20% it's still dubious... And I wonder about the "independence" of this board of directors which woul be appointed.. Murdoch could theoretically stack it with ex News Corp types, or maybe even his son James.. All they would have to do is resign from News Corp, sell their shares, and technically, they would then be independent, with no stake as such in the company..

Yes, it's 39%. I should have checked but I didn't.

No surprise whatsoever. This really was a chance for the Government to stand up to bullying, greedy businessmen but not taken. But when Murdoch gives so much to whichever party looks most likely to govern for the next few years, how can you be surprised when they greenlight everything?

It's kind of scary that one man has so much power over our government... and media.

 

Awful, awful man. Definitely up there with the likes of 'Max Clifford'.

It's kind of scary that one man has so much power over our government... and media.

 

Awful, awful man. Definitely up there with the likes of 'Max Clifford'.

 

To me he's far worse than that, he actually wields genuine power.

To me he's far worse than that, he actually wields genuine power.

 

I agree... Clifford was actually one of the "Phone Hacking" victims too..... So, anyone who can get to Clifford has got MAJOR juice.....

 

Even Norman Fowler - usually one of the most loyal Tory ex-ministers - is opposing the deal and criticising Hunt for his pitifully short "consultation" period.