British Business Secretary Peter Mandelson lashed out at media mogul Rupert Murdoch, owner of News Corporation, in a speech in the British parliament Wednesday 2 December. He accused Murdoch of having a stranglehold on TV-for-pay, of trying to weaken media regulatory body Ofcom and also of ruining British media traditions by bringing rightwing Fox News-style reporting to the UK. Murdoch came in for criticism from some observers Wednesday after the announcement that Google bowed to pressure from News Corporation and agreed not to allow news-for-pay to be displayed in full. Google’s new protection tools came out this week.

The speech could indicate that the British government, like the Australian, will now be going after News Corporation for avoiding capital gains taxes, the Guardian suggests.

Links to other sites: Forbes, Fox TV News, Guardian, Telegraph and background, Independent (12 November)

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