Just 5% of public backs BSkyB takeover
By politics.co.uk staff
Only five per cent of the public support Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp takeover of BSkyB, it has been revealed.
The finding, which comes from a YouGov survey commissioned by campaign site Avaaz, increases the pressure on the government on the final day of consultation on the decision.
But culture secretary Jeremy Hunt is unlikely to go back on his decision to allow the takeover to go ahead, despite concerted lobbying from the owners of the Mirror, Telegraph, Daily Mail and the Guardian.
The factor influencing his decision was “concentration of media ownership, not market power”, he told the Guardian.
The Avaaz survey found that 60% of respondents thought Mr Murdoch had too much influence over British politics, while 64% believed the merger would give News Corp too much power over the media.
Fifty-eight per cent wanted the decision to be referred to the Competition Commission while just over half thought the government had not acted neutrally on the issue.
“This deal gives one man the keys to the media kingdom. Rupert Murdoch’s so-called ‘safeguards’ of BSkyB’s independence are about as reliable as a British airport in a blizzard,” said Avaaz campaign director Alice Jay.
Mr Hunt was given responsibility over the deal after two reporters secretly recorded business secretary Vince Cable telling them the coalition was “at war” with Mr Murdoch.
