March 14, 2024 • 16 mins
Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes.
On today's podcast:
Ukrainian drone attacks halted three oil refineries deep within Russian territory in an assault President Vladimir Putin said was aimed at disrupting his presidential election later this week.
Dutch election winner Geert Wilders has dropped his bid to become prime minister, after months of coalition talks following his shock win in November.
Rishi Sunak's government plans to ban foreign states from controlling or influencing UK newspapers and news magazines, a move that appears to rule out a UAE-linked takeover of the Telegraph newspaper.
Donald Trump has talked about hedge fund titan John Paulson as Treasury secretary if he wins the November presidential election, and has held a series of meetings with potential cabinet picks, according to people familiar with the matter.
Britain's housing market picked up in February, with an increase in both new buyer inquires and properties for sale after prices stabilized.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. This is the Bloomberg
Day Bake podcast, available every morning on Apple, Spotify or
wherever you listen. It's Thursday, the fourteenth of March in London.
I'm Caroline Hepki.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
And I'm Stephen Carroll. Coming up today. Ukraine strikes Russian
oil refineries, the EU backs more weapons for Kiev, and
Putin says he's ready for nuclear war.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
UK ministers say that they will stop foreign states from
controlling or influencing British newspapers.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Plus playing top trumps, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee floats
Hedge Fund titaned John Paulson as a potential Treasury secretary.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Let's start with a roundup of our top stories.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Ukrainian drones have attacked three oil refineries deep within Russian territory.
The three facilities account for about twelve percent of Russia's
oil processing capacity and have been halted. President Putin says
the strikes are aimed at disrupt in his presidential election.
Later this week, speaking during a meeting with the US
Secretary of State, the European Union's foreign policy chief, Joseph
(01:08):
Borel made it clear that Ukraine needs more supports.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Ukraine is our biggest and immediate worry for US Europeans
and for you too, for our common security, and Russia
aggressor will not stop. We have to stop it. You
are doing a lot, We are doing a lot. Boats
I think we can do still more in order to
support Ukrainians in this very challenging time.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Josepha has come as EU Ambassador's agreed in principle to
provide five billion euros and military support for Ukraine. A
much larger sixty billion dollar usaid package remains in political
limbo now.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Dutch election winner Hurt Fielders has dropped his bid to
come prime minister after months of coalition talks. His decision
adds to the questions over the political direction of Europe's
fifth largest economy. This is nearly four months after his
election victory. The far right lawmaker pulled off a surprize
victory in the Dutch election last November, with his anti
(02:12):
European Union party securing around twenty five percent of parliamentary seats.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
The UK government says it will ban foreign states from
controlling or influencing UK newspapers and news magazines. The proposal
from Ministers appears to rule out a UA linked takeover
of the Telegraph. The move comes amid growing disquiet and
Parliament about the takeover of the nearly one hundred and
seventy year old newspaper.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
After reaching the threshold to secure the Republican nomination in
the US presidential race, Donald Trump is now turning his
attention to selecting potential cabinet members. On his list is
financier John Paulson. Ploomberg's Ed Baxter has the details.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
These are described as informal talks. So familiar name has
come up on the financial sector hedge fund type. John
Paulson is Treasury secretary. Now Trump has talked about Paulson, saying,
this is a quote John Paulson, the great John Paulson
made plenty of money in Nevada. Doesn't live there, makes
a hell of a lot of money. He makes money
everywhere he goes. Actually, so money machine. Maybe we'll put
(03:17):
you know what him at Treasury. You want to make
a little money. Nothing, of course, is set in stone,
and mister Trump has been known to change his mind.
Ed Baxter Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
The US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says market interest rates
are unlikely to return to pre pandemic levels. Ten year
US treasury yields averaged two point thirty nine percent in
the twenty tens, which was low by historical standards. Analysts
are split on if they will return to that level
after inflation comes down, or if the economy has fundamentally
(03:49):
changed post COVID. The debate has major implications for US
government spending, with past low rates enabling borrowing spreeze.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
The fate of an app used by a h hundred
and seventy million Americans now lies in the hands of
one hundred senators. That's after the US House voted to
ban TikTok unless it's Chinese owner, Byte Dance, divests. The
proposal now faces numerous concerns and potential revisions that could
slow or kill it in the US Senate. TikTok CEO
(04:20):
says that the company will fight the decision.
Speaker 5 (04:22):
Over the last few years, we have invested to keep
your data safe and our platform free from outside manipulation.
We have committed that we will continue to do so.
We will continue to do all we can, including exercising
our legal rights, to protect this amazing platform that we
have built with you.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Shoo Cho, CEO of TikTok, speaking via the app there.
So far, the Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has committed
only to reviewing the TikTok legislation when it comes to
the House.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
The UK's housing market picked up in February with an
increase in buyer inquiries and proper for sale. This is
according to the latest data from the Royal Institution for
Chartered Surveyors, saying the markets that are three year high
for properties on sale. That's as the number of buyer
inquiries rose for a second consecutive month. The findings confirm
(05:15):
the report from the Nationwide Building Society and Halifax showing
that house prices are now a little changed from their
peak in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
And those are our top stories for you this morning.
On the markets, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index is currently flat,
us SOOX at fifty futures this morning, tilting slightly negative.
Tenure treasure yields at four point two percent, up a
basis point. Those are the markets.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
In a moment, we'll get more on the latest developments
in the Russia Ukraine war and bring you details of
the UK government's efforts to limit foreign control of news organizations.
Another story that caught our eye this morning about a
company that's moving out of Canary Wharf. Another one, Yeah,
this is Moody's. Now this is something that we report
it back in July that they were looking for somewhere
(05:58):
new to move to when they're lead ends at the
one Canada Square building, so the pyramid top skyscraper at
the center of the Canary Wharf estate. They've now found
somewhere on Gresham Street, just behind some poles here in
the city, and they're planning to move in twenty twenty six.
It's a smaller office. They're looking for somewhere a better third,
smaller than their current imprint.
Speaker 6 (06:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Absolutely. I mean, you know the nineteen nineties haydiv Canary Wholf.
Is that coming to an end or is it simply
changing because HSBC going from Canary Wolf also, But is
actually that whole area in East London just going to
be a new type of retail housing area, even with
(06:39):
diagnostics and sort of healthcare type facilities their life sciences also,
does actually that whole part of East London have to change?
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Yeah, exactly. And that's an interesting trend to watch and
something that we've seen the owners of the estates where
they try to pivot some of the buildings there into
new uses. But Mood East the latest to be set
to be moving out of their in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Now that's and our attention to our top story and
get the latest on the boar in Ukraine and those
drone strikes on three Russian oil refineries Blue makes Tony
Halpin joins us now for more. Good morning, Tony. What
is the significance then of these strikes and how much
will they affect a Russia's war machine? They have had
an impact, yes, good morning.
Speaker 7 (07:22):
It's part of a campaign that Ukraine's been waging the
targets infrastructure and industrial facilities with two clear goals. Really,
one is to damage Russia's ability to earn money to
pay for its war and also its ability to produce material,
ore and fuel supplies to support the army on the
front lines.
Speaker 6 (07:41):
Just those three strikes that you mentioned alone.
Speaker 7 (07:44):
The refineries have a capacity or something like twelve percent
of Russia's total capacity. We don't really know how much
of that was damaged yesterday, but clearly from a morale
point of view, to boost for Ukraine and damaging for.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Russia, Tony, as we've heard from Vladimir Putin threatening to
use nuclear weapons in case of a threat to Russia's
sovereignty or independence. How seriously should we take those threats?
Speaker 7 (08:12):
I think probably not as much as Putin would like
us to take them seriously. It's part of his saber rattling,
which he does occasionally to threaten the West and create
space for him and his military to.
Speaker 6 (08:22):
Continue their war in Ukraine.
Speaker 7 (08:24):
It's a standard Russian position that nuclear weapons would be
used if there was a threat to Russia's existence and sovereignty.
Speaker 6 (08:31):
That's killing no such threat because Putin sits in the Kremlin.
Speaker 7 (08:34):
But more importantly, Putin did say yesterday that he never
thought of using tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine, which was
a much bigger threat and had the West and Native
in particular ary concept.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
We've also had EU ambassadors agreeing to another five billion
euros in military support for Ukraine. How far will that
go to meeting the need that Kiev's talked about so frequently.
Speaker 6 (09:00):
Yes, I mean.
Speaker 7 (09:01):
They're having real trouble supplying their military on the front
lines with sufficient munitions because of delays in aid from
Europe and the US. So this money is going towards
Kiov's urgent needs and things like artillery, munitions, drones and
air defense, and it will certainly be a help. But
what Ukraine is really waiting on is more than sixty
(09:22):
billion dollars of US military aid, which has been stuck
in Congress for months, and there's no sign that that's
going to be released anytime soon.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Tony. It feels like we've been talking so much in
recent times about the military needs of Ukraine in this conflict. Meanwhile,
is there any hope of the conflict moving towards an end?
Is there any sign of progress in that direction?
Speaker 6 (09:49):
Very, frankly, not much.
Speaker 7 (09:51):
Put In gave an interview to State television yesterday ahead
of his election campaign this weekend, basically said that Russia
was open to discussions, but ones that took account of
realities on the ground, and that's just simply Russian code
for saying we want to keep what we've invaded and
have managed to hold on to. That's a position that's
(10:12):
unacceptable to Ukraine and to Ukraine's allies. And there's no
sign really of any talks that we'll be leading to
some kind of negotiations and a deal.
Speaker 6 (10:21):
To win the fight.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Okay, Tony Halpin, thank you so much for being with
us this morning. Then taking us through the latest on
Ukraine and the war with Russia. Bloomberg's Tony Halpin.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Back here in the UK, the government is planning to
ban foreign states from owning or controlling British newspapers and
news magazines. The Culture Minister, Stephen Parkinson confirmed reports the
government would Titan Competition legislation currently passing through Parliament, and
this would appear to rule out the takeover of the
Daily Telegraph newspaper and Spectator magazine by the UA backed
(10:55):
Redbird IMI. Joining us now to discuss as our UK
politics supporter James Willcock. James, what are the proposed changes
then to the Digital Markets Act that would be relevant
to this area?
Speaker 8 (11:07):
So they're not actually on paper, Steven, which we'll get
to a few regularities that we'll see. But what they
announced in the House of Lords, this is a Culture Secretary,
Lord Parker, was that any influence or controlling stake by
a foreign state, crucially state not company I sort of
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp would be fine. Is would be
(11:27):
blocked by the government and that would just be a
thing that would happen in future. If a foreign state
were to make a bid for a UK newspaper, there
would be an investigation by CMA or off GEM or
off Common sorry into that outlet and if it was
a foreign state, and if it were the Minister would
be compelled to unwind it. It would just simply be blocked.
(11:49):
The bit that we don't know is how much is
a foreign state this is a controlling interest? Is it
twenty five percent? Is it fifty percent? Certainly though it
would spell doom for the current planned acquisition of Redbird
of the Telegraph Media Group.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Yeah. There is also an interesting addition angle to this
that it is newspapers and news magazines, but it is
not online. It's not not any digital assets for example.
I mean what does it mean for the Telegraph? What
does it mean for the media landscape?
Speaker 8 (12:18):
I mean the way I take that, Caroline is when
we look at kind of the balance of the UK's
national security legislation how it looks at foreign takeover companies,
that this move has been extremely ad hoc in nature,
and this is a targeted move that is almost effectively
designed like a guided missile to take on the Telegraph
(12:41):
and no other company at all, now other broadcaster, it
doesn't affect them. It is specifically for the Telegraph as
a law. And in that sense it speaks not to
the UK's big strategic thinking on foreign ownership, but the
chaos and the Conservative Party and Prime Minister Richard's inability
to kind of set the political weather in this debate.
(13:02):
He has been led by his MPs and what they
want and so that is why they're It's it's almost
difficult to comment on what it says about the UK's
foreign ownership rules. It's more about what it says about
the Conservative Party.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Is the UK then trying to strike a balance here
and in given that the UAE doesn't have a free
press and isn't isn't a place where you know that
the media is supported in that way? Is this a
question of getting a balance right?
Speaker 8 (13:30):
I mean, just to generally push back on this. Even
this is almost not a debate for the UK government.
It's a debate for UK Conservative MPs. And what happened
here is this a member was announced in the Lords
after the former Tory Lord is of the head of
the Lord's Baroness Stowell brought an amendment to bring this
about the Conservative backbenches and lords forced this issue onto
(13:53):
the agenda by bringing this amendment and then there were
enough MPs in the Commons that would back this. They
reckon about one hundre conserved MPs that the UK Government
felt it would lose any vote on this amendment. So
to sort of I know, we're very deep in the
Westminster weeds here, but what has happened is concern richly
seen that government have had to bring in this law
(14:16):
to fend off and move from behind from their own
MPs to dump this and stop the telegraph happening. So
it is it's strange to comment on what this says
about the future of UK a foreign ownership, when really
we should be looking at what this says about the
state of the Conservative Party.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
And that in and of itself is part of the
criticism and the concern that it probably is not great
policy and great law, you know, to make a piece
of legislation in reaction quite kneeje reaction to one event
or one thing that is happening. What does it mean then,
overall for what happens to the telegraph and the spectator
(14:53):
if it is so specifically about this one particular deal so.
Speaker 8 (14:57):
There are a few options on the table, right. There's
the one that Bloomberg report earlier this week that maybe,
depending on what this legislation says, a lower stake would
be amenable. And then if there were some kind of
talks or tie up between some of the other bidders
looking at Daily Mail, General Trust or looking at maybe
sort of News Corp, possibly even the Poor Marshall group,
though that wasn't part of the talks that we've reported,
(15:20):
that might be amenable to the ministers. Lucy Fraser the
culture is set to ruin this steal anyway, because she
has the power to block it or defer it regardless already,
just whether she chooses to exercise said power or maybe
Redbird and their UA linked bid will just get a
bit frankly upset with the amounts of sort of red
tape they've been tied up in and sort of disdain
(15:41):
that they've been shown for any willingness to bid to
this and abandon the bid entirely. All this means that
if you're working at the Telegraph or trying to run
a business strategy for Telegraph in the meantime, you're left
in limbo and certain about the group's future and ownership structure.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
This is Bloomberg Daybreak Europe. You're a morning brief on
the stories making news from London to Wall Streets and beyond.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Look for us on your podcast feed every morning, on Apple, Spotify,
and anywhere else you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
You can also listen live each morning on London Dab Radio,
the Bloomberg Business app, and Bloomberg dot Com.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Our flagship New York station is also available on your
Amazon Alexa devices. Just say Alexa play Bloomberg eleven thirty.
I'm Caroline Hepka and.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
I'm Stephen Carol. Join us again tomorrow morning for all
the news you need to start your day right here
on Bloomberg Daybreak Europe
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. This is the Bloomberg
Day Bake podcast, available every morning on Apple, Spotify or
wherever you listen. It's Thursday, the fourteenth of March in London.
I'm Caroline Hepki.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
And I'm Stephen Carroll. Coming up today. Ukraine strikes Russian
oil refineries, the EU backs more weapons for Kiev, and
Putin says he's ready for nuclear war.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
UK ministers say that they will stop foreign states from
controlling or influencing British newspapers.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Plus playing top trumps, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee floats
Hedge Fund titaned John Paulson as a potential Treasury secretary.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Let's start with a roundup of our top stories.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Ukrainian drones have attacked three oil refineries deep within Russian territory.
The three facilities account for about twelve percent of Russia's
oil processing capacity and have been halted. President Putin says
the strikes are aimed at disrupt in his presidential election.
Later this week, speaking during a meeting with the US
Secretary of State, the European Union's foreign policy chief, Joseph
(01:08):
Borel made it clear that Ukraine needs more supports.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Ukraine is our biggest and immediate worry for US Europeans
and for you too, for our common security, and Russia
aggressor will not stop. We have to stop it. You
are doing a lot, We are doing a lot. Boats
I think we can do still more in order to
support Ukrainians in this very challenging time.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Josepha has come as EU Ambassador's agreed in principle to
provide five billion euros and military support for Ukraine. A
much larger sixty billion dollar usaid package remains in political
limbo now.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Dutch election winner Hurt Fielders has dropped his bid to
come prime minister after months of coalition talks. His decision
adds to the questions over the political direction of Europe's
fifth largest economy. This is nearly four months after his
election victory. The far right lawmaker pulled off a surprize
victory in the Dutch election last November, with his anti
(02:12):
European Union party securing around twenty five percent of parliamentary seats.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
The UK government says it will ban foreign states from
controlling or influencing UK newspapers and news magazines. The proposal
from Ministers appears to rule out a UA linked takeover
of the Telegraph. The move comes amid growing disquiet and
Parliament about the takeover of the nearly one hundred and
seventy year old newspaper.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
After reaching the threshold to secure the Republican nomination in
the US presidential race, Donald Trump is now turning his
attention to selecting potential cabinet members. On his list is
financier John Paulson. Ploomberg's Ed Baxter has the details.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
These are described as informal talks. So familiar name has
come up on the financial sector hedge fund type. John
Paulson is Treasury secretary. Now Trump has talked about Paulson, saying,
this is a quote John Paulson, the great John Paulson
made plenty of money in Nevada. Doesn't live there, makes
a hell of a lot of money. He makes money
everywhere he goes. Actually, so money machine. Maybe we'll put
(03:17):
you know what him at Treasury. You want to make
a little money. Nothing, of course, is set in stone,
and mister Trump has been known to change his mind.
Ed Baxter Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
The US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says market interest rates
are unlikely to return to pre pandemic levels. Ten year
US treasury yields averaged two point thirty nine percent in
the twenty tens, which was low by historical standards. Analysts
are split on if they will return to that level
after inflation comes down, or if the economy has fundamentally
(03:49):
changed post COVID. The debate has major implications for US
government spending, with past low rates enabling borrowing spreeze.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
The fate of an app used by a h hundred
and seventy million Americans now lies in the hands of
one hundred senators. That's after the US House voted to
ban TikTok unless it's Chinese owner, Byte Dance, divests. The
proposal now faces numerous concerns and potential revisions that could
slow or kill it in the US Senate. TikTok CEO
(04:20):
says that the company will fight the decision.
Speaker 5 (04:22):
Over the last few years, we have invested to keep
your data safe and our platform free from outside manipulation.
We have committed that we will continue to do so.
We will continue to do all we can, including exercising
our legal rights, to protect this amazing platform that we
have built with you.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Shoo Cho, CEO of TikTok, speaking via the app there.
So far, the Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has committed
only to reviewing the TikTok legislation when it comes to
the House.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
The UK's housing market picked up in February with an
increase in buyer inquiries and proper for sale. This is
according to the latest data from the Royal Institution for
Chartered Surveyors, saying the markets that are three year high
for properties on sale. That's as the number of buyer
inquiries rose for a second consecutive month. The findings confirm
(05:15):
the report from the Nationwide Building Society and Halifax showing
that house prices are now a little changed from their
peak in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
And those are our top stories for you this morning.
On the markets, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index is currently flat,
us SOOX at fifty futures this morning, tilting slightly negative.
Tenure treasure yields at four point two percent, up a
basis point. Those are the markets.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
In a moment, we'll get more on the latest developments
in the Russia Ukraine war and bring you details of
the UK government's efforts to limit foreign control of news organizations.
Another story that caught our eye this morning about a
company that's moving out of Canary Wharf. Another one, Yeah,
this is Moody's. Now this is something that we report
it back in July that they were looking for somewhere
(05:58):
new to move to when they're lead ends at the
one Canada Square building, so the pyramid top skyscraper at
the center of the Canary Wharf estate. They've now found
somewhere on Gresham Street, just behind some poles here in
the city, and they're planning to move in twenty twenty six.
It's a smaller office. They're looking for somewhere a better third,
smaller than their current imprint.
Speaker 6 (06:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Absolutely. I mean, you know the nineteen nineties haydiv Canary Wholf.
Is that coming to an end or is it simply
changing because HSBC going from Canary Wolf also, But is
actually that whole area in East London just going to
be a new type of retail housing area, even with
(06:39):
diagnostics and sort of healthcare type facilities their life sciences also,
does actually that whole part of East London have to change?
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Yeah, exactly. And that's an interesting trend to watch and
something that we've seen the owners of the estates where
they try to pivot some of the buildings there into
new uses. But Mood East the latest to be set
to be moving out of their in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Now that's and our attention to our top story and
get the latest on the boar in Ukraine and those
drone strikes on three Russian oil refineries Blue makes Tony
Halpin joins us now for more. Good morning, Tony. What
is the significance then of these strikes and how much
will they affect a Russia's war machine? They have had
an impact, yes, good morning.
Speaker 7 (07:22):
It's part of a campaign that Ukraine's been waging the
targets infrastructure and industrial facilities with two clear goals. Really,
one is to damage Russia's ability to earn money to
pay for its war and also its ability to produce material,
ore and fuel supplies to support the army on the
front lines.
Speaker 6 (07:41):
Just those three strikes that you mentioned alone.
Speaker 7 (07:44):
The refineries have a capacity or something like twelve percent
of Russia's total capacity. We don't really know how much
of that was damaged yesterday, but clearly from a morale
point of view, to boost for Ukraine and damaging for.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Russia, Tony, as we've heard from Vladimir Putin threatening to
use nuclear weapons in case of a threat to Russia's
sovereignty or independence. How seriously should we take those threats?
Speaker 7 (08:12):
I think probably not as much as Putin would like
us to take them seriously. It's part of his saber rattling,
which he does occasionally to threaten the West and create
space for him and his military to.
Speaker 6 (08:22):
Continue their war in Ukraine.
Speaker 7 (08:24):
It's a standard Russian position that nuclear weapons would be
used if there was a threat to Russia's existence and sovereignty.
Speaker 6 (08:31):
That's killing no such threat because Putin sits in the Kremlin.
Speaker 7 (08:34):
But more importantly, Putin did say yesterday that he never
thought of using tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine, which was
a much bigger threat and had the West and Native
in particular ary concept.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
We've also had EU ambassadors agreeing to another five billion
euros in military support for Ukraine. How far will that
go to meeting the need that Kiev's talked about so frequently.
Speaker 6 (09:00):
Yes, I mean.
Speaker 7 (09:01):
They're having real trouble supplying their military on the front
lines with sufficient munitions because of delays in aid from
Europe and the US. So this money is going towards
Kiov's urgent needs and things like artillery, munitions, drones and
air defense, and it will certainly be a help. But
what Ukraine is really waiting on is more than sixty
(09:22):
billion dollars of US military aid, which has been stuck
in Congress for months, and there's no sign that that's
going to be released anytime soon.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Tony. It feels like we've been talking so much in
recent times about the military needs of Ukraine in this conflict. Meanwhile,
is there any hope of the conflict moving towards an end?
Is there any sign of progress in that direction?
Speaker 6 (09:49):
Very, frankly, not much.
Speaker 7 (09:51):
Put In gave an interview to State television yesterday ahead
of his election campaign this weekend, basically said that Russia
was open to discussions, but ones that took account of
realities on the ground, and that's just simply Russian code
for saying we want to keep what we've invaded and
have managed to hold on to. That's a position that's
(10:12):
unacceptable to Ukraine and to Ukraine's allies. And there's no
sign really of any talks that we'll be leading to
some kind of negotiations and a deal.
Speaker 6 (10:21):
To win the fight.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Okay, Tony Halpin, thank you so much for being with
us this morning. Then taking us through the latest on
Ukraine and the war with Russia. Bloomberg's Tony Halpin.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Back here in the UK, the government is planning to
ban foreign states from owning or controlling British newspapers and
news magazines. The Culture Minister, Stephen Parkinson confirmed reports the
government would Titan Competition legislation currently passing through Parliament, and
this would appear to rule out the takeover of the
Daily Telegraph newspaper and Spectator magazine by the UA backed
(10:55):
Redbird IMI. Joining us now to discuss as our UK
politics supporter James Willcock. James, what are the proposed changes
then to the Digital Markets Act that would be relevant
to this area?
Speaker 8 (11:07):
So they're not actually on paper, Steven, which we'll get
to a few regularities that we'll see. But what they
announced in the House of Lords, this is a Culture Secretary,
Lord Parker, was that any influence or controlling stake by
a foreign state, crucially state not company I sort of
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp would be fine. Is would be
(11:27):
blocked by the government and that would just be a
thing that would happen in future. If a foreign state
were to make a bid for a UK newspaper, there
would be an investigation by CMA or off GEM or
off Common sorry into that outlet and if it was
a foreign state, and if it were the Minister would
be compelled to unwind it. It would just simply be blocked.
(11:49):
The bit that we don't know is how much is
a foreign state this is a controlling interest? Is it
twenty five percent? Is it fifty percent? Certainly though it
would spell doom for the current planned acquisition of Redbird
of the Telegraph Media Group.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Yeah. There is also an interesting addition angle to this
that it is newspapers and news magazines, but it is
not online. It's not not any digital assets for example.
I mean what does it mean for the Telegraph? What
does it mean for the media landscape?
Speaker 8 (12:18):
I mean the way I take that, Caroline is when
we look at kind of the balance of the UK's
national security legislation how it looks at foreign takeover companies,
that this move has been extremely ad hoc in nature,
and this is a targeted move that is almost effectively
designed like a guided missile to take on the Telegraph
(12:41):
and no other company at all, now other broadcaster, it
doesn't affect them. It is specifically for the Telegraph as
a law. And in that sense it speaks not to
the UK's big strategic thinking on foreign ownership, but the
chaos and the Conservative Party and Prime Minister Richard's inability
to kind of set the political weather in this debate.
(13:02):
He has been led by his MPs and what they
want and so that is why they're It's it's almost
difficult to comment on what it says about the UK's
foreign ownership rules. It's more about what it says about
the Conservative Party.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Is the UK then trying to strike a balance here
and in given that the UAE doesn't have a free
press and isn't isn't a place where you know that
the media is supported in that way? Is this a
question of getting a balance right?
Speaker 8 (13:30):
I mean, just to generally push back on this. Even
this is almost not a debate for the UK government.
It's a debate for UK Conservative MPs. And what happened
here is this a member was announced in the Lords
after the former Tory Lord is of the head of
the Lord's Baroness Stowell brought an amendment to bring this
about the Conservative backbenches and lords forced this issue onto
(13:53):
the agenda by bringing this amendment and then there were
enough MPs in the Commons that would back this. They
reckon about one hundre conserved MPs that the UK Government
felt it would lose any vote on this amendment. So
to sort of I know, we're very deep in the
Westminster weeds here, but what has happened is concern richly
seen that government have had to bring in this law
(14:16):
to fend off and move from behind from their own
MPs to dump this and stop the telegraph happening. So
it is it's strange to comment on what this says
about the future of UK a foreign ownership, when really
we should be looking at what this says about the
state of the Conservative Party.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
And that in and of itself is part of the
criticism and the concern that it probably is not great
policy and great law, you know, to make a piece
of legislation in reaction quite kneeje reaction to one event
or one thing that is happening. What does it mean then,
overall for what happens to the telegraph and the spectator
(14:53):
if it is so specifically about this one particular deal so.
Speaker 8 (14:57):
There are a few options on the table, right. There's
the one that Bloomberg report earlier this week that maybe,
depending on what this legislation says, a lower stake would
be amenable. And then if there were some kind of
talks or tie up between some of the other bidders
looking at Daily Mail, General Trust or looking at maybe
sort of News Corp, possibly even the Poor Marshall group,
though that wasn't part of the talks that we've reported,
(15:20):
that might be amenable to the ministers. Lucy Fraser the
culture is set to ruin this steal anyway, because she
has the power to block it or defer it regardless already,
just whether she chooses to exercise said power or maybe
Redbird and their UA linked bid will just get a
bit frankly upset with the amounts of sort of red
tape they've been tied up in and sort of disdain
(15:41):
that they've been shown for any willingness to bid to
this and abandon the bid entirely. All this means that
if you're working at the Telegraph or trying to run
a business strategy for Telegraph in the meantime, you're left
in limbo and certain about the group's future and ownership structure.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
This is Bloomberg Daybreak Europe. You're a morning brief on
the stories making news from London to Wall Streets and beyond.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Look for us on your podcast feed every morning, on Apple, Spotify,
and anywhere else you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
You can also listen live each morning on London Dab Radio,
the Bloomberg Business app, and Bloomberg dot Com.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Our flagship New York station is also available on your
Amazon Alexa devices. Just say Alexa play Bloomberg eleven thirty.
I'm Caroline Hepka and.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
I'm Stephen Carol. Join us again tomorrow morning for all
the news you need to start your day right here
on Bloomberg Daybreak Europe
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