As his Ministers ponder whether to intervene in sale of Telegraph to group part-funded by UAE ruling family... Rishi Sunak insists a free press and competitive media sector is important to our democracy

Rishi Sunak has emphasised the importance of 'a free press and a competitive media sector', as his Ministers consider whether to intervene in the sale of the Daily Telegraph to a group part-funded by the ruling family of the United Arab Emirates.

The Prime Minister made the remarks after Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said she was 'minded' to launch a regulatory review of the sale – on the grounds of protecting 'free expression of opinion' and 'accurate presentation of news' by issuing a public interest intervention notice (PIN).

Asked by The Mail on Sunday whether he was 'comfortable' with the proposed sale of the Telegraph to RedBird IMI – a US-based fund partly backed by Sheikh Mansour, the deputy prime minister of the UAE and owner of Manchester City FC – Mr Sunak said: 'Having a free press and a competitive media sector is important to our democracy.'

He added: 'The Secretary of State has an obligation to intervene in media transactions where there is a public interest to do so. There is a quite clear process that she follows, a statutory judicial process, and it wouldn't be right for me to comment on that beyond the general point.'

Mr Sunak refused to be drawn on claims that senior figures at the Foreign Office had sought to 'take the edge off' a letter sent by Ms Frazer to RedBird IMI over fears about offending the UAE, which includes Abu Dhabi.

Former Telegraph Editor Charles Moore has led criticism of the planned takeover, describing the paper as a 'great British institution' that must not be 'nationalised' – especially by a state that does not cherish press freedoms.

Lord Moore told the BBC yesterday: 'The problem is, to put it very bluntly, that the Daily Telegraph and its other titles would be nationalised. And if we tried to nationalise a newspaper in this country, any newspaper, any national newspaper, it would be regarded as a scandalous interference with press freedom.

'But this is trying to nationalise allowing a foreign government – which doesn't really have press freedom and is an autocracy – to own it, and this would be incompatible with press freedom.'

Lord Moore added: 'It seems to me obviously bizarre...that a free newspaper in a free country, a very important national title and a very important magazine, with The Spectator, should fall into such hands. And I don't blame the Abu Dhabi royal family for trying but I would blame the Government very much if they do allow it.'

Fraser Nelson, Editor of The Spectator, told the corporation: 'It's kind of depressing to see us in this awkward situation, but here we are. I mean, there's a whole bunch of ownership options that could work well, that could work badly. I've got no idea.'

There are also a number of other groups bidding to buy the Telegraph, including DMGT, which owns the Mail.

The Times reported yesterday that Mr Sunak is expected to meet Dr Sultan Al Jaber, the chairman of IMI – which bankrolls RedBird IMI – when he attends the COP climate change conference on Friday. 

The oil executive is also the UAE-appointed president of COP28. Between 2015 and 2020 he was head of the UAE's National Media Council, during which time Amnesty International criticised him for 'exercising strict control over local and international media'.

No 10 insisted there were no plans for the Prime Minister to have a bilateral meeting with Al Jaber and said that if they did meet he would not discuss the deal.

RedBird IMI is understood to have hired lobbying firm Flint Global, set up by former Ofcom boss Ed Richards, for their bid. In September, Flint Global employee Adam Atashzai, was hired by No 10 as a special adviser, having previously worked for David Cameron when he was Prime Minister.

Flint's co-founder and managing partner, Simon Fraser, served as permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office and head of the Diplomatic Service from 2010 to 2015.

Jeff Zucker, the former CNN boss who as head of RedBird IMI is leading the bid, has promised to create an editorial advisory board to uphold the independence of both the Telegraph and Spectator.