§ Mr. John Fraserasked the Secretary of State for Trade whether the sale of the titles of The Times and The Sunday Times to International News required any variation of the undertaking given to him on the most recent transfer of ownership of those papers.
§ Mr. John Smithasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he is satisfied that the transfer of The Times and The Sunday Times newspapers is in accordance with the conditions which he attached to his consent to the acquisition of these newspapers by Mr. Murdoch; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will make a statement on his policy towards the future of Times Newspapers.
§ Mr. BiffenWhen I consented last year to the transfer ofThe Times and The Sunday Times from the Thomson Organisation Ltd to News International Ltd I attached certain conditions designed to safeguard editorial independence. Among my conditions was a requirement that NIL should not, without the consent of a majority of the independent national directors, do anything which would result in Times Newspapers Ltd selling or otherwise disposing of any interest in The Times or The Sunday Times.
I learned at the weekend of reports that Times Newspapers Ltd had transferred the titles of The Times and The Sunday Times to its parent company NIL. This was done without the consent of the independent national directors. My Department has discussed with representatives of NIL the transfer of the titles of the The Times and The Sunday Times from TNL to NIL. In the light of these discussions, I am satisfied that the transfers were carried out on the basis of legal advice that no breach of the conditions would be involved, and that the purpose was not to achieve a situation whereby the conditions safeguarding editorial freedom would be avoided. Nevertheless, it is now accepted that the validity of a transfer, albeit a transfer within the same group, without the consent of the independent directors may well be open to doubt. I understand that accordingly NIL has reversed the transfers already made. I also understand that a meeting of the independent national directors has been arranged at which NIL will seek consent to a transfer of titles, subject to suitable safeguards. At present, therefore, the matter is one primarily for the independent national directors.
§ Mr. John Smithasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he was consulted by Mr. Rupert Murdoch before the titles of The Times and The Sunday Times were transferred.
§ Mr. BiffenNo.
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§ Mr. John Smithasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will arrange an early meeting with the independent national directors of Times Newspapers to discuss the transfer of the titles of these newspapers.
§ Mr. BiffenI have no plans at present to meet the independent national directors. However, I understand that a meeting of these directors has been arranged at which News International Ltd. will seek consent to a transfer of the titles.
§ Mr. John Smithasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will publish the changes in the articles of association of the company owning The Times and The Sunday Times newspapers which gave effect to the conditions he attached to the acquisition of these newspapers by Mr. Rupert Murdoch.
§ Mr. BiffenI am arranging to have placed in the Library of the House a copy of the articles of association of Times Newspapers Ltd. and of Times Newspapers Holdings Ltd., marked to show the changes which were introduced in order to meet my conditions.
§ Mr. John Smithasked the Secretary of State for Trade if, in the course of the discussions between himself or his Department and Mr. Rupert Murdoch prior to his conditional agreement to Mr. Murdoch's acquisition of The Times and The Sunday Times newspapers, any guarantees were given by Mr. Murdoch regarding the future disposal of the titles of these newspapers.
§ Mr. BiffenOne of the conditions which I attached to my consent was the following
News International Ltd. shall not without the consent of a majority of the independent national directors for the time being of Times Newspapers Holdings Limited do anything, or procure or permit anything to be done, which shall result in ——
- (i) NIL, by reason of any transfer, ceasing to be a newspaper proprietor in relation to The Times or The Sunday Times or
- (ii) either TNHL or Times Newspapers Limited (TNL) ceasing to be a subsidiary—within the meaning of Section 154 of the Companies Act 1948—of NIL, or
- (iii) TNL selling or otherwise disposing of any interest in The Times or The Sunday Times.
Mr. Murdoch gave me no further guarantees concerning the future disposal of the newspapers.
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Trade what powers are available to him to restrain the owners of News International from breaching the terms of the undertaking given to him by News International prior to their purchase of The Times newspaper.
§ Mr. BiffenI gave my consent under section 58(1) of the Fair Trading Act 1973 to News International Ltd's acquisition ofThe Times and The Sunday Times subject to certain conditions. Section 62 of the Act provides for criminal penalties for any breach of those conditions.
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will refer to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission the future of The Times newspaper in light of the transfer of the ownership of that newspaper to News International.
§ Mr. BiffenNo. The transfer is not referable to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission under the newspaper merger provisions of the Fair Trading Act 1973.
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