Inquiry into Murdoch empire ruled out

THE Director-General of Fair Trading, Sir Bryan Carsberg, has ruled out a Monopolies and Mergers Commission inquiry into allegations by Labour that Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation newspaper and broadcasting empire is abusing its market position, writes Patricia Wynn Davies.

But Sir Bryan has made clear in letters to Labour's Ann Clwyd, Labour's national heritage spokeswoman, and Robin Cook, the trade and industry spokesman, that he has not ruled out a formal investigation into whether the Times is guilty of predatory pricing in reducing its cover price from 45p to 30p.

Of the complaint from Newspaper Publishing plc, publisher of the Independent, over the reduction, Sir Bryan said: 'This could be a competition policy issue. My officials are making inquiries to establish whether or not a case exists for formal action under the competition legislation on the grounds that this is a case of predatory pricing. You might - or might not - feel that concentration of ownership in a number of media markets raises public policy issues broader than those of competition, but these would be a matter for government in Parliament and not for me.'

Mrs Clwyd said that she was disappointed over Sir Bryan's decision, but welcomed 'that on a narrower focus he does appear to see the need for an investigation'.