Murdoch may ditch Labour
Media tycoon, Rupert Murdoch, last night hinted that his newspaper empire may switch political allegiances to the seemingly re-energised Tory party, whence the next general election comes.
The News International boss and owner of The Times and The Sun, said the ‘jury’s out’ on Tony Blair, suggesting he would have to think twice about backing Labour should Michael Howard, the Tories’ new leader, proffer a robust, ‘viable’ opposition.
Mr Murdoch told the BBC last night: ‘We’ll have to see how the Tory frontbench looks, if it looked like a viable alternative government, which it hasn’t so far. And we will not quickly forget the courage of Tony Blair in the international sphere in the last several months, so we may be torn in our decision. So let’s wait and see.’
Mr Murdoch said his flagship tabloid paper, The Sun, may be ‘torn’ over which party to support. The Sun backed Labour at the last two general elections.
But Mr Murdoch said he would not ‘quickly’ forget Tony Blair’s courage in facing up to domestic and international criticism during the Iraq war.
