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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

My Lords, I wish to intervene briefly. If, like the noble Lord, Lord Gordon, one is to declare past interests, I should declare a past—regrettably—interest as chairman of two regional newspaper companies, one of which I think we sold to Johnson Press, of which the noble Lord was a board member. I have great sympathy with the point that my noble friend has just made. The Kangaroo case raises important questions about what the national interest is. Whether or not the amendment moved by the noble Lord, Lord Gordon, is the correct way of putting it—it probably is not, as he has been modest enough to say—the issues that have been raised should certainly be considered by the Government. In the Kangaroo case, a proposal to bring a number of companies together in providing a service was not approved. The only result of that will be that companies from outside the United Kingdom will fill the gap that has been left. That cannot be in the national interest or the public interest, however it is that one wants to put it. Although the Minister will have all kinds of reasons why the amendment is not drafted correctly, I hope that he will at least recognise that there is a serious point here, which the Government—and only the Government can do this—will need to handle and concentrate on.