Campaign win! Rupert Murdoch will be furious

We’ve just sent out this email – more to follow soon!

Amazing news! We’ve had a huge breakthrough in our campaign to stop Rupert Murdoch grabbing full control of BSkyB. Just hours after Murdoch put in the paperwork, Vince Cable accepted our demand and called an inquiry. [1]

Thousands of us have worked together to take on one of the most powerful men in the world.When we started, political insiders said we didn’t have a hope of winning. But we knew that Murdoch grabbing even more power would be bad for our democracy. So we had to try to stop this deal going through on the nod. Today, we did it!

Rupert Murdoch will be furious. But he won’t have given up just yet. His lobbyists will be all over Westminster today. His newspaper editors will be getting ready to attack. They’ll do everything they can to make sure the inquiry is soft on Murdoch.

Today we need to make sure MPs are hearing from us more than Murdoch’s lobbyists. If MPs are lining up to tell Vince they’re on his side, we can make sure he knows he’s got public support for a proper investigation with teeth.

Click here to send your MP an email asking them to back Vince’s stand against Murdoch:
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/stop-murdoch

We know that Vince Cable has stuck his neck out on this. There are reports of splits in the government. Murdoch has powerful allies and they’ll be pushing hard to restrict what the investigation can look at. If thousands of us email our MPs today, we can make sure hundreds of them get behind Vince’s decision quickly. [2]

An inquiry with teeth would investigate what the Murdoch BSkyB power grab means for all UK media, now and in the future. It would look at everything under Murdoch’s control, not just BSkyB. That’s the last thing Murdoch wants. But if enough of us contact our MPs today, we can make sure his lobbyists don’t get their way.

It’s not often MPs hear from lots of us to say we are pleased with a government decision.But today Vince Cable needs public support for taking the right decision:
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/stop-murdoch

Getting Vince Cable to call an investigation really is a massive victory for people-power. Together, over 30,000 of us signed the petition, another 20,000 of us signed our open letter to Vince, and thousands of us have already emailed our MPs. But while we’re celebrating this huge achievement, let’s also keep the pressure up by emailing our MPs again today and telling them to support Vince in holding an inquiry with real teeth. [3]

Write to your MP by clicking here:
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/stop-murdoch

Thanks for being involved,

Hannah, Johnny, David, and the 38 Degrees team

P.S. When you hear back from your MP, please share what they say so we can keep track of which MPs back an enquiry with teeth and which ones are in Murdoch’s pocket. You can share your MP’s reply, and see what other MPs are saying, here:http://www.38degrees.org.uk/murdoch-mp-replies. Today though, let’s make sure MPs are hearing from thousands of us – click here to send your MP a quick message: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/stop-murdoch.

NOTES:
[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11691728
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/nov/04/news-corporation-bskyb-cable-labour
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/latest/2010/11/04/cable-intervenes-over-bskyb-bid-115875-22691305/
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tv-radio/vince-cable-intervenes-in-news-corp-bskyb-bid-2124828.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/epic/bsy/8109419/Vince-Cable-refers-News-Corps-bid-for-BSkyB-to-Ofcom-on-public-interest-grounds.html
[2] Financial Times: Tension rises as cabinet split over BSkyB bid: http://bit.ly/cvdOMQ
[3] http://blog.38degrees.org.uk/2010/10/11/weve-delivered-our-message-to-vince-cable/