Politics: Senior MPs try again to curb power of Murdoch
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Your support makes all the difference.GORDON BROWN may have agreed to address News Corp editors and executives in Idaho next month, but Labour MPs at home will be seeking today to tackle Rupert Murdoch's power base in Britain.
Senior MPs are planning to register their disapproval of Tony Blair's close relationship with Mr Murdoch by threatening to vote against the Government over predatory pricing by his newspaper empire.
Chris Mullin, the Labour chairman of the cross-party Home Affairs Committee, is tabling an amendment to reinsert the ban on predatory pricing in the Competition Bill during its report stage in the Commons. The amendment was introduced in the Lords to prevent Mr Murdoch seeking dominance by predatory pricing following a government defeat led by the Liberal Democrat peer, Lord McNally, with the support of Lord Borrie, the Labour life peer and former director general of the Office of Fair Trading.
It was removed from the Bill during the committee stage and there is no chance of the Government backing down now. However, the MPs are determined to make a show of their concern about the influence of Mr Murdoch in British politics by pressing ahead with their protest.
Mr Mullin said last night that a front-page article in the Sun last week attacking Tony Blair as the "most dangerous man in Britain" for appearing to soften his stance towards British entry to the European single currency was a "wake up call" to Labour MPs against the influence of Mr Murdoch.
There are suspicions at Westminster, however, that Mr Murdoch did not agree with the personalised tone of the attack on Mr Blair. In a sign of continuing warm relations with the Government, Mr Murdoch last week invited Mr Brown to address the News Corp convention in mid-July in the Sun Valley ski resort in Idaho. It was learnt last night that the invitation to the Chancellor came last Thursday, a day after the Sun attack on Mr Blair.
The Prime Minister today will reassert the Government's policy not to rule out entry into the single currency at the inauguration of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt.
Mr Blair addressed the same conference of News Corp executives three years ago in Australia, while leader of the Opposition. The Sun switched allegiance from the Tories to Labour shortly afterwards.
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