Beckett Reassures Of Tighter Restrictions To Predatory Pricing

Trade and industry secretary Margaret Beckett yesterday made moves to prevent a potential rebellion over the extent of restrictions to predatory pricing. She claimed that the new Competition Bill will tighten the law against predatory pricing and will introduce European jurisprudence in the form of Clause 60.

The Bill promises that any companies which find themselves on the receiving end of anti-competitive practices will have new rights to seek damages in the court.

The amendments to the Competition Bill follow complaints from a number of figures, including the Liberal Democrat’s Lord McNally, that Rupert Murdoch’s News International should not be able to subsidise its Times newspaper with profits from the rest of the business (see Lords Revolt In Favour Of Curbing Newspaper Price Cuts). There has been a worry that the Government would not tighten restrictions against Murdoch for fear of turning his News International newspapers against the Labour Party.

A number of national newspapers also recently liaised with the Office of Fair Trading claiming that this predatory pricing was damaging their businesses (see OFT Seeks Information On Times Price Cuts).

The Bill gained a second reading last night by 345 votes to 134.