The letter told the PM: “By moving quickly and including the legislation in the Queen’s Speech in May, you will not only take the first step towards ensuring a healthy future for independent media, but you will position the UK as a world leader in tackling the imbalance of power between media providers and the tech platforms which threatens to deprive the public of the trusted news and information they require.”

Following the letter’s publication, a flurry of news coverage has followed. This is a whistle stop tour of the week that the DMU was catapulted onto the news agenda, and onto the agenda of the PM and his Cabinet:

The i newspaper and the Daily Mail were among those to cover the letter, with the Mail reporting on ‘fears that unless the Government moves swiftly this progress could be delayed by at least another year’. On Saturday, The Times followed up with information that the Government’s ‘intention to give the regulator statutory underpinning has been delayed after it was not included in the upcoming Queen’s Speech.’

This led to speculation in the Mail on Sunday that Cabinet Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg was responsible for blocking the legislation, although his allies claim Government figures are trying to ‘frame’ Rees-Mogg as they wish to prioritise the privatisation of Channel 4. The Sun also picked up on the story, with a Government source saying the legislation would still ‘get the nod’, but not become law until late 2023.

News of the possible delay prompted anger from senior parliamentarians. On Monday, Chair of the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee Julian Knight MP told The Times: “I’m deeply concerned. The Digital Markets Unit is running in shadow form. If we’re seen as laggards when it comes to bringing forward legislation to bring competition to these enormous markets, it means we won’t have any place around the table. We do need to come to some form of longstanding arrangement for the benefit of established news media organisations who are having their content used without any form of recompense.”

The pressure was ratcheted up on Tuesday when the Chair of the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee, Baroness Stowell, made a statement which was picked up by the Daily Mail. The peer stated: ‘The establishment of the DMU on a statutory footing is an urgent necessity’, adding that the CMA should use powers already at its disposal whilst the Unit awaits legislation. A Times leading article also stated that ‘the Government should legislate without delay’, observing that publishers ‘have invested heavily in digital news but find it difficult to monetise their efforts’.

Ahead of the Queen’s Speech on May 10th, it is clear that calls from across the media sector for the Government to prioritise a Digital Competition Bill will only intensify. The Government must think again, and move quickly to ensure that publishers of trusted content can build sustainable businesses in the digital age.