COMPETITION IN THE NEWSPAPER DISTRIBUTION INDUSTRY

Early day motion 408, tabled 13 November 2001 by Lord Cotter (Liberal Democrat). Signed by 291 members.

That this House notes with concern the contents of the National Federation of Retail Newsagents' Report, 'Ending anti-competitive practices in the national newspaper industry'; recognises the important role that independent retail newsagents play within our communities; further recognises that high carriage charges relating to newspaper distribution present a substantial threat to the viability of these small businesses; and urges The Office of Fair Trading to investigate whether high charges on carriage are a result of geographical monopolies operating between publishers and wholesalers by examining the agreements made between them under the terms of the Competition Act 1998 and to ensure, at the very least, that transparency applies to all such arrangements by making agreements subject to a fair and open bidding round.

Signatures by party: Labour 146, Conservative 70, Liberal Democrat 48, Labour/Co-operative 11, Scottish National Party 4, UUP 4, Plaid Cymru 3, Social Democratic and Labour Party 3, DUP 1, Independent 1.