The chances of the Government’s Communications Bill becoming law in its current form looked increasingly tenuous yesterday as opposition to the proposed legislation gained momentum in the House of Lords.
A group of peers, headed by Lord Puttnam, chairman of the Joint Scrutiny Committee have already successfully tabled two amendments on the Bill, which is scheduled to gain royal approval before the summer recess.
The first amendment, which passed by a healthy majority of 174 votes to 74, called for the new super-regulator, Ofcom, to place a greater emphasis on protecting the rights of ordinary people. The second amendment would require the new body to play a greater role in the promotion of broadband technology, particularly in rural and underprivileged areas.
The cross-party alliance, which secured the two amendments, suggests that Puttnam may succeed in blocking the most controversial aspect of the Bill, which allows foreign ownership of UK media assets.
Puttnam recently put forward a compromise measure, which would impose a special public interest test on large media groups wanting to buy Channel Five (see Puttnam Plan Could End Media Ownership Deadlock). However, the Government does not appear willing to back down on this issue and Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell, recently said that the decision to open the UK media market to non-European investment was “right for the industry, the public and the country as a whole”.
Political commentators have suggested there is strong support for the so-called “Murdoch Clause” within the Labour Party itself, claiming the proposed amendments will allow the party to curtail the growth of the Murdoch empire while escaping the wrath of his newspapers.
Despite Government assurances that the move is in the public interest, over half of the people in Britain are opposed to plans to allow foreign ownership of UK media assets, according to research from Taylor Nelson Sofres.
