News International withdraws bid for BSkyB

News International has bowed to the strength of public feeling which has itself been driving political posturing desperate to keep up with the mood of the electorate.It has just announced that it is to withdraw its bid for BSkyB.

It says it no longer intends to make an offer for the entire share issue because it would be too difficult to progress it in the current circumstances.

Legally, this prevents any new bid being launched for six months at least.

The company has also made it clear that it intends to maintain its 39% shareholding in BSkyB. It is possible, later, that they could be required to reduce that shareholding to 29%.

Under the terms of the original bid agreement, News International must now pay BSkyB £40million in compensation for withdrawal. It will also have millions of pounds to pay in legal fees.

It has been said that the only way News International could resuscitate the bid for BSkyB with any likelihood of success would be to sell its remaining three newspaper titles in the UK: The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times.

While this might technically purge News International, in our view the public will simply not accept News International in any new and renewed capacity – and politicians have no choice but to pay attention to that now settled will.

Victory for the people

This is a victory for the general public, whose value system remains intact in a world where the Metropolitan Police  – according to John Yates evidence to the Commons Home Affairs Committee yesterday (12th July 2011) have waited for years for the News of the World to decide if and when to give it information on its phone hacking operations – instead of doing what they are supposed to do in crime cases: go in and get it.

Compare police treatment of News of the World and Damian Green MP

This is the same police service who, in March 2010 – just over a year ago and in the middle of the long wait for the News of the World to hand over evidence – raided the House of Commons office and the constituency home of shadow immigration minister, Damian Green, arresting him and taking away files.

This came after the leaking of Home Office documents by whistleblower, Christopher Galley, with the police searching Mr Green’s email account for any communications with Shami Chrakrabarti,head of the civil rights organisation, Liberty.

Did the Met raid News of the World Offices and the homes of its senior executives and key reporters, arrest them and take away files?

No. Have they yet? No. But phone hacking is a formal crime.