Clause 2 - Initial function of OFCOM
Office of Communications Bill [Lords]
5:00 pm
Mr Paul Farrelly (Newcastle-under-Lyme, Labour)
Although I am not a lawyer, I have some experience of competition issues as I was City editor of a national newspaper for some years. To take a concrete example, it could hardly have been predicted that a craze for buying ostriches would sweep Britain. When that mad craze swept Britain, the competition authorities—the OFT and the Financial Services Authority—concurred that the FSA had the most appropriate powers to tackle it. Likewise, in a future of fast-moving technology, it will not possible to predict every instance in which it will be necessary to put on a competition hat. It is logical that competition regulators should put their heads together to decide which has the best powers and the best expertise to deal with each circumstance as it arises. There is nothing conflicting about that.