Dorries paves way for Times to tie up with Sunday title

RUPERT MURDOCH has moved a step closer to merging The Times and The

Sunday Times after the Culture Secretary said she was preparing to abolish legal restrictions in a move that could result in job cuts.

Nadine Dorries told Parliament that the undertakings dating back to 1981 were “no longer appropriate or necessary for the purpose they were intended to achieve” and was “minded to” back News UK’S efforts to remove them.

The comments come after a report by the media regulator Ofcom said there was a “strong commercial rationale” behind News UK’S appeal given some rivals had already cut costs by sharing reporters and back-office operations between their daily and Sunday titles.

Ofcom concluded that scrapping the undertakings would not have a “material impact on plurality” and said it welcomed attempts to secure the “longterm viability” of newspapers in a tough market exacerbated by a downturn in circulation and print advertising.

In a separate report, the competition watchdog found that maintaining the legal hurdles would have a “significant” impact on News UK’S ability to cut costs because they prevented the company from creating a “fully unified structure” across the two newspapers.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said: “Based on the analysis we have carried out, it appears that the indirect cost savings arising from the ability to restructure and merge desks fully could have a material impact on the financial performance of The Times Newspaper Limited.”

Launching a two-week consultation ahead of a final decision, the Culture Department said the CMA report showed the removal would have a “significantly positive impact on News UK’S financial position”.

Mr Murdoch also called for the termination of an independent board directors put in place by Margaret Thatcher to rein in his influence over the newsroom.

News UK declined to comment.