Rishi Sunak has tonight been urged to support an amendment in the House of Lords which would give parliament a veto on foreign states owning UK media outlets. Tina Stowell, a former Leader of the House, has written to the Prime Minister today ahead of her amendment to the Digital Markets Bill being debated next Wednesday by fellow peers. It comes two days after a letter in support of Stowell’s amendment, organised by Robert Jenrick, was signed by more than 100 Tory MPs.

The spur of this amendment is the proposed takeover of the Telegraph and Spectator titles by the UAE-owned RedBird IMI. Yet in her letter to Sunak, Stowell stresses that this ‘isn’t just about the potential acquisition of those important newspaper titles.’ Rather this situation has exposed the fact that ‘in law there is nothing that clearly prohibits the acquisition of a UK news organisation by a foreign power or organisations under significant foreign government control.’ She cites the previous failure of the government to intervene in 2019 in the Evening Standard and Independent takeover as ‘evidence of the weakness in our current legal framework.’ Stowell warns Sunak that:

We will be debating my amendment next Wednesday, 13 March, and I strongly urge the government to support it. If not, I wanted you to know that based on the widespread and growing support from all benches across the House of Lords, I will call a division.

A former member of David Cameron’s cabinet, Stowell is a well-respected member of the Lords who knows first-hand the intricacies of managing government business in that chamber. Her amendment is backed by a trio of heavyweights in the Upper House: David Anderson KC, former Nato chief George Robertson and Michael Forsyth, a master of parliamentary procedure. That calibre of names ought to trouble party-managers, bruising from this week’s defeats on the Rwanda scheme.

Stowell’s letter refers to the ‘widespread and growing support from all benches’ for her amendment. Evidence for this was provided last week when Lord Forsyth tabled a motion of regret to the Media Bill on the proposed RedBird sale. Such was the unanimity of opinion that Forsyth withdrew his amendment: ‘I do not think I need to test the opinion of the House because every single speech has supported the view that foreign governments should not be able to own British newspapers.’

If the House of Lords does divide on Stowell’s amendment and backs it, there will doubtless be pressure for the Commons to be given the chance to do the same. Such an expression of parliamentary disapproval would have obvious implications for the proposed RedBird sale.