Game-changing masterstroke or act of desperation? The Barclay family's use of RedBird IMI, an
It increasingly looks like the former. If Lloyds can get comfortable with the provenance of the funds in the next eight days, it will bite the Barclays' hands off. To recoup £1.16bn from a tricky customer in messy default over a protracted period would be some achievement indeed for
The appearance of
A number of MPs and peers - some of whom have close links to Sir
Yesterday, they got their wish from an obliging culture secretary. It was hard to envisage the culture secretary failing to scrutinise such a deal a year before an election in which the Tories will need the Telegraph to help get Tory voters out in force.
The probe arising from the PIIN will not be quick, though. Politics - and the Westminster connections of rival suitors - mean the final chapter of the Telegraph story may still not go to press for some time.
(c) 2023 City A.M., source