The senior Conservative peer Lord Fowler has written this commendable article in today's Guardian, about News Corp's bid for full control of BSkyB. This bid really matters, which is why I am pleased that it will cross the desk of a Liberal Democrat Business Secretary, Vince Cable. It's only because of the Coalition Agreement that a Liberal Democrat like Vince Cable is the Cabinet Minister handling matters such as this, and that's another reason for my supporting the coalition. The coalition is not just about long-term policy; it's also about ministers' decisions on the papers that they find in their Red Box each day. It is in making those decisions, large and small, that Liberal Democrat ministers will make much of their impact in the coming months and years. For more on the Sky bid, I was interested to read this piece in The Observer by Will Hutton.
PS on Wednesday 22 December 2010: This matter appears to have crossed Vince Cable's desk with greater rapidity than might have been anticipated. It has now landed on the desk of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt. I hope that Mr Hunt will refer the bid to the relevant competition authorities; his decision whether or not to do that will be made on the basis of much legal and technical advice to which I will clearly not be privy - the decision is his, to be made impartially.
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