Government urged to hand control of sale of Telegraph newspapers to regulator

The government has been urged to take control of the sale of the Telegraph through an auction run by a body such as the competition regulator or the Cabinet Office.

- Mark Sweney

Peers called on the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, to wrest the sale process from RedBird IMI, which is majority funded by the United Arab Emirates, in questions put to Labour minister Fiona Twycross in the House of Lords yesterday.

RedBird IMI has been forced to restart the sale process after its junior partner in the joint venture, US-based RedBird Capital Partners, pulled out of a deal to buy the Daily and Sunday Telegraph on Friday.

Christopher Fox, the Liberal Democrats’ spokesperson for business, said the Telegraph needed an independent “white knight” buyer and argued that those involved in previous attempts to buy the titles should not be allowed to lead the process. He added that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport had mishandled the situation and suggested the Cabinet Office or an external adviser should take control.

The Conservative peer Michael Forsyth suggested that the government should turn to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to pursue a “proper auction and have normal order restored”.