’Break up Murdoch empire’

Labour leader Miliband calls for new media ownership rules to limit "dangerous" concentration of power

'Break up Murdoch empire'

Labour leader Miliband calls for new media ownership rules to limit "dangerous" concentration of power

Labour leader Ed Miliband has demanded for dismantling of Rupert Murdoch's UK media empire in a dramatic intervention in the row over phone hacking.

Murdoch speaks to the media after meeting Milly Dowler's
family, whose phone was allegedly hacked by NoTW

In an exclusive interview with the Observer, Miliband calls for cross-party agreement on new media ownership laws that would cut Murdoch's current market share, arguing that he has "too much power over British public life".
u00a0
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg backed new ownership rules to foster more press diversity but said an independent inquiry should be completed first.

Miliband says that the abandonment by News International of its bid for BSkyB, the resignation of its chief executive, Rebekah Brooks, and the closure of the News of the World (NoTW) are insufficient to restore trust and reassure the public.

The Labour leader argues that current media ownership rules are outdated, describing them as "analogue rules for a digital age" that do not take into account mass digital and satellite broadcasting.

"I think that we've got to look at the situation whereby one person can own more than 20% of the newspaper market, the Sky platform and Sky News," Miliband said.
u00a0
"I think it's unhealthy because that amount of power in one person's hands has clearly led to abuses of power within his organisation.
u00a0
If you want to minimise the abuses of power then that kind of concentration of power is frankly quite dangerous."

all night party a day before scandalu00a0

Rupert Murdoch's daughter Elisabeth and her PR tycoon husband Matthew Freud threw a decadent party on July 2 that saw the political elite flock their 22-bedroom mansion in Burford Priory, UK media reported. Just 24 hours later, NoTW's phone-hacking news broke. "It is like the social wing of his media empire. Elisabeth and Matthew feed off this by providing a link between the worlds of politics, business and showbusiness," said a person privy to theu00a0 information. The party reveals the extent of the couple's connections on both sides of the Commons.

brooks arrested
Rebekah brooks (43), former British editor of NoTW, was arrested by the British police investigating phone hacking and police bribery by the defunct tabloid. She was nabbed at a London police station at noon Sunday, after stepping down last Friday as head of Murdoch's British newspapers.
The arrest comes two days before Brooks is due to answer questions from a parliamentary committee investigating the hacking. Murdoch and his son James are also due to give evidence.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels