I’ve just given evidence to a House of Lords Select Committee which is considering the future of news and media more broadly. The best thing that politicians can do for the press is leave us alone: protect our independence (from politicians and government) but also protect the press from politicians and governments of other countries. This is now in doubt, with the Emirati bid for the Daily Telegraph and The Spectator through one of their investment vehicles, RedBird IMI.

The Media Bill is currently going through the Lords. Their lordships could amend it to state that foreign governments and their proxies cannot own television stations or newspapers in the UK. Such a stipulation should be, as Lord Forsyth recently said, a “no-brainer”. No democracy in the world has ever allowed an autocratic government to own TV stations, newspapers or magazines. The conflict of interest is obvious. With the Emiratis cosying up to the Kremlin and information becoming seen as an international battleground, why allow Vladimir Putin’s ‘dear friends’ (as they recently called themselves) to own Britain’s biggest quality newspaper?

The Media Bill is about broadcasters, so it would be unusual to add a clause protecting print. But we’re in an unusual situation – and the Lords could bring bring a quick end to what is already a damagingly drawn-out affair. If they amended the Bill, there’s bound to be a majority in both the Lords and the Commons for this rule. Jamie Stone, a Liberal Democrat MP, said in a debate last week that the ‘the mood of the House is that this [the Emirati bid] is simply not on’. That’s the Commons. And the Lords? Baroness Stowell, who chaired today’s committee, said last week that she “would be surprised if there was much support in this House for the deal going ahead”.

The MPs were pretty angry that Julia Lopez, the minister, said she could not even answer questions about this crucial issue due to the Ofcom inquiry. One of the characteristics of this government is being caught in legal traps. George Osborne, who is acting for the Emiratis, argues that an editorial board would make the Telegraph independent of its ultimate owners. If Sunak is minded to block the deal, does he have the legal powers to do so? The Lords can end any ambiguity on this with a quick and clear legislative amendment now.

As things stand, both The Spectator and the Daily Telegraph are trapped in a long process (in an ever-changing market) while Ofcom looks at the competitive threats raised by the Emirati bid (there are, quite obviously, none). It then reports to Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary, who will probably order what’s known as a Phase Two inquiry, some 80 per cent of which end in blocking the deal under consideration.

But the outcome is far from clear and it could take months. Perhaps even so long that the fate of this magazine and the Daily Telegraph will be decided by a Labour government. Only after the Phase Two inquiry could the government block the deal on national security grounds (see the recent Vodafone intervention) and even that’s not a given. What if Starmer’s startegy is to Emirati investment – perhaps arranged by the Tony Blair Foundation – and doesn’t want to upset the sheiks? The same, incidentally, can be said for the Tories who have so far prided themselves in bagging Emirati money. Lord (Dominic) Johnson, who was in charge of the Emirati charge offensive, has been saying Britain needs to avoid being “sentimental about some of our so-called treasured assets.” The mercantilist force runs strong in this government.

As I told the Lords Committee, there is a degree of urgency here. It might be too late if left too long. The notion of free press means freedom from government: this is incompatible with government ownership. There can be no such thing as ‘editorial board’ protection: such boards don’t work. It’s impossible to make a news organisation independent of its owners. We are facing an unexpected peril to press freedom and if we say yes to the Emirati government then why not their allies in the Russian and Chinese governments?

Britain is a country famously open to foreign investment but a line needs to be drawn by parliament. This isn’t about foreign ownership; Nikkei of Japan owns the FT, no one has a problem with that. But foreign government ownership is something no one thought any autocracy would attempt. The Emiratis are moving fast: can parliament keep up? The Lords has in its power the chance to end the uncertainty, update the law and allow both the Spectator and Telegraph to pass on to other owners who are more likely to support journalists than imprison them.

When he spoke in a recent Lords debate Steve Bassam, a Labour peer, admitted to finding himself “in the rather somewhat novel position of fiercely defending the interests of the Telegraph newspaper group and The Spectator in the interest of press freedom”. Lord Forsyth summed it up: “Why should it take so long for Ofcom and everyone else to come to the obvious conclusion and put us all out of our misery?” The Lords have it within their power to speed this process up. Let’s see if they do.