Foreign state control of British newspapers is to be outlawed, effectively blocking the UAE’s attempted takeover of The Telegraph.

Ministers revealed plans on Wednesday “explicitly to rule out newspaper and periodical news magazine mergers involving ownership, influence or control by foreign states”.

The move, announced by Lord Parkinson, the culture minister, was made to see off a rebellion being led by a Tory peer and sparked by The Telegraph’s predicament.

RedBird IMI, a fund 75 per cent backed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE vice-president, had positioned itself to take control of The Telegraph and The Spectator magazine by repaying the debts of the Barclay family, the current owners.

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