§ Mr. Nigel EvansTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the proposed sale ofThe Observer.
§ Mr. HeseltineLonrho announced on 29 April that it has received an offer fromThe Guardian and Manchester Evening News (GMEN) for The Observer which it found acceptable and upon which it had undertaken to consult the board of The Observer. A transfer of The Observer to GM EN would require my consent under provisions of the Fair Trading Act relating to newspaper mergers. I have not so far received any application for consent. Under the newspaper merger provisions of the Fair Trading Act I would need to refer a transfer to GMEN to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission unless I was satisfied that the paper was not economic as a going concern and, if the paper was to continue, the case was one of urgency. I could not reach a view on this until I had been able to study the terms of any application.