Miliband: Kill off Murdoch's empire
Sunday 17 July 2011
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EmailRupert Murdoch's media empire has had a "dangerous" influence on British politics and must be broken up, Labour leader Ed Miliband urged today.
The Labour leader called for an overhaul of media ownership rules that would reduce Mr Murdoch's British market share and prevent the "abuses of power" that led to the current scandal.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg joined calls for greater "plurality" only for Defence Secretary Liam Fox to caution politicians against over-reacting, exposing a potential rift in the coalition.
In his latest attack on the media mogul, Mr Miliband told the Observer: "I think he has too much power over British public life."
The News Corp empire has been diminished with the closure of the News of the World over the phone-hacking scandal, but it still owns the Sun, the Times, the Sunday Times and 39 per cent of BSkyB.
"I think that we've got to look at the situation whereby one person can own more than 20 per cent of the newspaper market, the Sky platform and Sky News," Mr Miliband said.
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