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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/dec/19/rupert-murdoch-ive-never-asked-any-prime-minister-for-anything
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| Rupert Murdoch: 'I've never asked any prime minister for anything' | Rupert Murdoch: 'I've never asked any prime minister for anything' |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Rupert Murdoch has written to the Guardian to deny he ever claimed that Downing Street does his bidding, as a bid by his US film and television group to acquire Sky is due to be formally notified to ministers. | Rupert Murdoch has written to the Guardian to deny he ever claimed that Downing Street does his bidding, as a bid by his US film and television group to acquire Sky is due to be formally notified to ministers. |
| The media mogul, who is chairman of 21st Century Fox, wrote: “I have made it a principle all my life never to ask for anything from any prime minister.” | The media mogul, who is chairman of 21st Century Fox, wrote: “I have made it a principle all my life never to ask for anything from any prime minister.” |
| In a rare move to write directly to a newspaper, Murdoch disputed a quote attributed to him in the Guardian and elsewhere in which he reportedly said: “When I go into Downing Street, they do what I say; when I go to Brussels, they take no notice.” | In a rare move to write directly to a newspaper, Murdoch disputed a quote attributed to him in the Guardian and elsewhere in which he reportedly said: “When I go into Downing Street, they do what I say; when I go to Brussels, they take no notice.” |
| In his response, Murdoch added: “There is much fake news published about me, but let me make clear that I have never uttered those words.” | In his response, Murdoch added: “There is much fake news published about me, but let me make clear that I have never uttered those words.” |
| The intervention comes at a highly sensitive moment for Murdoch’s business interests, with Fox’s proposed £11.2bn takeover of the 61% of Sky he does not already own expected to be notified to the UK government for approval. | The intervention comes at a highly sensitive moment for Murdoch’s business interests, with Fox’s proposed £11.2bn takeover of the 61% of Sky he does not already own expected to be notified to the UK government for approval. |
| The culture secretary, Karen Bradley, has 10 working days from being notified to tell the regulator Ofcom whether a public interest investigation into the proposed takeover should be launched. | The culture secretary, Karen Bradley, has 10 working days from being notified to tell the regulator Ofcom whether a public interest investigation into the proposed takeover should be launched. |
| The former Labour leader Ed Miliband and former business secretary Vince Cable have called for the takeover to be blocked and referred to the regulator. | The former Labour leader Ed Miliband and former business secretary Vince Cable have called for the takeover to be blocked and referred to the regulator. |
| A previous attempt by a Murdoch company to acquire the remaining part of Sky was withdrawn in the summer of 2011 at the height of the phone-hacking scandal, which was exposed by the Guardian and led to the closure of the News of the World. | A previous attempt by a Murdoch company to acquire the remaining part of Sky was withdrawn in the summer of 2011 at the height of the phone-hacking scandal, which was exposed by the Guardian and led to the closure of the News of the World. |
| However, Fox, the company bidding on this occasion, does not own the newspapers; they are published by a separate business, News Corporation. The newspapers were hived off in the wake of the hacking scandal. | However, Fox, the company bidding on this occasion, does not own the newspapers; they are published by a separate business, News Corporation. The newspapers were hived off in the wake of the hacking scandal. |
| The quote was originally reported in the Evening Standard by Anthony Hilton, who wrote in February: “I once asked Rupert Murdoch why he was so opposed to the European Union. ‘That’s easy,’ he replied. ‘When I go into Downing Street they do what I say; when I go to Brussels they take no notice.’” |