Member

Let us be clear: these regulations fundamentally contradict the intentions of Parliament expressed just months ago, as we have heard, in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act. That Act, as the noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, reminded us, was underpinned by overwhelming cross-party consensus that foreign Governments must not own or influence our press. As Fraser Nelson points out, influence is the issue here. Yet these draft regulations, hastily brought forward, would allow precisely that.