Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary, has compared the proposed funding structure for Sky News when it is spun off from BSkyB to the BBC’s licence fee and promised that it will enjoy “unprecedented” editorial independence.

Hunt made the comparison in the House of Commons on Thursday while defending News Corporation’s proposal to spin off the loss-making news channel from BSkyB into a new publicly listed company, so that its takeover of the satellite broadcaster can go ahead.

He said there would be airtight restrictions in place to make sure News Corp could not abuse the power it has through continuing to fund Sky News for 10 years.

“In a way it is like the licence fee negotiations with the BBC – it secures cash flow for the new organisation for a period of 10 years,” Hunt added. “Sky are not able to get out of supplying that cash except in extreme conditions and where there is a dispute about that cash there is a dispute resolution procedure involving independent arbitration. So they will be as sure of their cash flow over the 10-year period of the carriage agreement as anyone could be.”

Ivan Lewis, Labour’s shadow culture secretary, accused Hunt of putting the “perceived interests of his party and career ahead of the public interest”.

Lewis said Hunt had given the pro-Tory News Corp the greenlight in the same week that he had named Lord Patten, a former chairman of the Conservative party, as the next chairman of the BBC Trust.

“This process has exposed an arrogant government, cavalier about its responsibility to be impartial and contemptuous of the importance of transparency in circumstances where there is a high level of public mistrust,” he added.

Hunt batted off the accusation, arguing that he had been “absolutely scrupulous” in seeking, following and ultimately publishing independent advice at every step over the News Corp/Sky deal and stressed the “total probity of which we have approached this decision”.

“[The decision has] not been taken on basis of party interest,” he said. “It actually strengthens the editorial independence of Sky News in a way that is completely unprecedented for any media organisation in this country.”

Hunt also rejected the accusation that the remedy is a behavioural solution and therefore not as binding as a structural one, an argument put forward by those including Trinity Mirror chief executive Sly Bailey.

“These are essentially structural remedies, they are not a promise of good behaviour. What they are is remedies concerning structure, articles of association… [a] board of directors of a new company,” he said. “And so they are obligations that are legally enforceable and much, much stronger.”

Guardian story with full links and other stories, HERE

The British government has given the green light for Rupert Murdoch’s controversial takeover of UK satellite broadcaster BSkyB.

The deal, expected to be worth $16 billion, will hand News Corporation the dominant commercial pay TV platform in the UK.

News Corp is already the third biggest media group in the world and critics say the BSkyB deal amounts to an unacceptable concentration of media ownership in Britain.

BSkyB is Europe’s leading satellite pay TV provider and owner of channels like Sky Atlantic, Sky Sports and Sky Movies.

But it is News Corp’s takeover of Sky News which has troubled critics, who argue that it compromises Britain’s plurality of news.

News Corp already owns Britain’s four biggest selling newspapers and many argue the Murdoch media empire would have too strong a voice in the UK with the addition of the country’s only commercial pay TV news channel.

Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt assured the House of Commons the deal did not need to be referred to the competition commission because News Corp would be forced to spin Sky News off as a separately listed public company.

“Throughout this process I have been very aware of the potential controversy surrounding this merger,” he said.

“Nothing is more precious to me than the free and independent press for which this country is famous the world over.

“In order to reassure the public, I have sought and published independent advice. After careful consideration, I have followed that independent advice.”

The government will force James Murdoch to step down as the non-executive chairman of Sky News.

The new company will need to have an independent board but News Corporation will fund the operation for 10 years and be allowed to retain a 39 per cent stake in it.

Opposition culture spokesman Ivan Lewis now questions the coalition’s motivation in handing News Corp the satellite broadcasting prize.

“This process has exposed an arrogant government, cavalier about its responsibility to be impartial,” he said.

News Corporation-owned newspaper The Sun, the biggest-selling title in the UK, backed the Conservatives in May’s general election after previously supporting Labour.

“Honourable members and many people outside the House will want reassurance that the right honourable gentlemen has not put the perceived interests of his party and career ahead of the public interest,” Mr Lewis said.

An alliance of five newspaper groups and telecoms giant BT have rejected News Corps proposals designed to calm concerns about the concentration of media voices.

“[Murdoch] gets around deals. He is brilliant at it and politicians are afraid of him,” Guardian deputy editor Michael White said.

“It is like being in a room with a 300-pound gorilla and independent directors, all that stuff, [that is] not what Rupert Murdoch is about.”

News Corp launched its first bid for the 61 per cent of BSkyB that it does not already own in June last year.

Back then the stake was worth seven pounds a share but the price is now trading at eight pounds.

Analysts say the Murdochs will have to pay closer to 10 pounds to win the support of the board.

Rupert Murdoch turns 80 next week but it is clear he is still as ambitious as he was when he inherited a little newspaper in Adelaide nearly 60 years ago.

ABC Online HERE