Part of the debate – in Westminster Hall at 2:30 pm on 15 July 2009.
The hon. Gentleman has struck a raw nerve on the point about local authorities. Whatever the threat from withholding advertising, the threat from setting up a rival publication is real in many areas. Has the hon. Gentleman seen the LGA brief-a self-serving, disingenuous document-which said that there was no threat whatsoever from local government newspapers, whereas we know that they are parasites and stiflers of local newspapers?