In the end, it was watertight. A new law has been just voted through the House of Lords banning foreign governments from owning British newspapers and magazines. Any “material influence” has been banned; that means neither the United Arab Emirates or any “foreign power” will be allowed so much as a 0.1 percent stake in The Spectator, Daily Telegraph or any similar publication. The Emiratis had been set to buy both titles through RedBird IMI, a vehicle majority-funded by Emirati vice president Sheikh Mansour. Tina Stowell, the Tory baroness who led the campaign, has now stopped this deal in its tracks. She drew from a government amendment to the Digital Markets Bill which has just passed its third reading in the Lords. 

The UAE, which had hoped to add The Spectator and the Daily Telegraph to its list of British assets, is now likely to accept Parliament’s decision in letter and spirit. We’ll now likely see it beat a swift and retreat, with a resumption of the sale process which was halted last December.