Culture Secretary: Saudi and Jeremy Wright

culture secretary: Jeremy Wright, the former culture secretary, claimed there was reason to believe the Saudi investment may have an effect on the Evening Standard and the Independent's news agendas and referred the case to the Competition and Markets Authority on public interest grounds, according to The Independent. Evening Standard investor unveiled as Saudi businessman Read more However, lawyers for Lebedev's news outlets successfully blocked the referral. It was claimed in court that the companies were ultimately part-owned by a Saudi bank with close ties to the government. Judges at the Competition Appeals Tribunal ruled that although the government followed the law in raising the public interest concerns about the transactions, it was too late to formally intervene. Deciding whether to pursue the case will be one of the first major tests for new culture secretary Nicky Morgan, in a political sensitive area. A government spokesperson said they were disappointed by the court's ruling and would study the judgement carefully before deciding whether to seek an appeal, which would need to be requested by 6 September. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.