Rupert Murdoch was a candid supporter of Margaret Thatcher’s government, and he appears to remain firmly sympathetic toward the UK Conservative party (his papers The Times and The Sun supported the Tories at the last general election). Vince Cable has just been divested of his responsibility for media competition after, apparently, making effusive anti-Murdoch overtones. Ministerial responsibility for these matters has now shifted to Jeremy Hunt who has variously made pro-Murdoch comments and mooted large cuts in the BBC.
After considering this, one can’t help speculating as to how much this latest development has transpired by design: Cable had voiced his concerns over News Corporation’s bid to increase its ownership of Sky from 39% to 100%, earlier this year, and, I for one, no matter what kind of language is being used, struggle to understand why the opinions given by the likes of Jeremy Hunt are any less subjective (or more objective) than those provided by Cable.
The decision, we are told, is a quasi-judicial one: ultimately, Vince Cable would have potentially been the Judge and Jury on whether the News Corp takeover went ahead. However, if one (the one being the Prime Minister in this case) has the power to appoint the Judge and Jury, and you’re not comfortable about what ruling that Judge and Jury might make, then one, is, of course, going to find another that will make the decision you require.
For the Tories to have The Times pull the kind of sting that the Telegraph did on Vince Cable would have been far too obvious. A clever approach would be to choose another one of your mates in the media that appears more removed from the direct interest. It’s not difficult to work out that the Business Secretary must be feeling very rattled, angry, yet at the same time, vulnerable, at the moment.
So, if you’re a Conservative who, naturally, would rather have a Conservative majority government than share power with Liberal Democrats, you send along a couple of Daily Telegraph reporters, posing as members of Cable’s own party, to exploit his emotional turbulence: eventually he will give you a comment that can be construed as inappropriate and provide the key to getting him removed as the obstacle to securing your agenda.
