Lord Hague comes out against ‘disturbing’ UAE attempt to buy The Telegraph.

Lord Hague has described The Telegraph’s proposed takeover by Abu Dhabi as “disturbing” and one that “should be prevented”.

The former foreign secretary called on Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary, to intervene by triggering a regulatory investigation in the public interest.

Writing in The Times, Lord Hague stressed that while there was “more to admire” about the United Arab Emirates (UAE) “than to fear”, allowing e3ective foreign state ownership of a major newspaper was “going too far”.

Lloyds Banking Group, which took control of The Telegraph and The Spectator in June from the Barclay family, is pursuing a £1.2 billion deal to hand over control of the titles to RedBirdIMI, a fund backed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the UAE vice president.

The proposed transaction has fuelled concerns over press freedom, given the UAE’s authoritarian leadership and track record of media censorship.

Most senior Tory to come out against UAE deal
Lord Hague, a former leader of the Conservative party, is the most senior Tory to date to come out against the proposed UAE deal. His intervention is signifcant because of his close links to Rishi Sunak – he is widely seen as a mentor – and comes at a crucial juncture in Sheikh Mansour’s attempts to back the takeover of the Daily and Sunday Telegraph.

Read more: telegraph.co.uk

Photo: telegraph.co.uk