Nobody is saying people shouldn't be allowed to buy whatever newspapers they want, or watch whatever tv channels they want. We all know that, left to their own devices, people will gorge themselves on rubbish... That's why McDonalds remains such a stubbornly popular food outlet.

But this is about one man who already owns close to half of some sections of the British media being allowed to further consolidate this ownership into something approaching a monopoly. Remember that many of his outlets were not started from scratch, but were acquisitions which were made long after those publications already had established reputations and circulations.

Quite aside from his objectionable ideological views, anti-competitive business practices and shameless political interventions, it is plainly dangerous to ever allow any one company or individual to purchase such a large slice of the media pie.