If the deal is passed, the secretary of state can also demand undertakings on editorial independence.
Times Newspapers is legally bound to keep the daily and Sunday titles under separate editorial stewardship because of undertakings given by Rupert Murdoch when he bought the company in 1981.
Remember those undertakings?" The undertaking referred to here are the 1981 written assurances Murdoch gave the UK government about editorial independence when he bought the Times and Sunday Times.
He had repeatedly taken decisions in relation to the bid that infuriated the Murdoch empire, including referring the undertakings on BSkyB editorial independence offered by News Corp to Ofcom, the media regulator.
The original draft suggests "the concessions made by these undertakings will strengthen the editorial independence of Sky News", wrote Mr Smith.
It is thought that News Corp's undertakings include the possibility of an independent editorial board which would oversee the output of Sky News and its team of well-known presenters such as Adam Boulton, Dermot Murnaghan and Kay Burley.
In a meeting with editorial staff, he told journalists it was "not allowed" by the undertakings given by Rupert Murdoch in 1981 to maintain the independence of the paper and was "not part of any strategy".
"Fundamental changes are limited by the undertakings and in fact we see no great benefits at this stage from merging much of editorial, though we will keep this under review," Witherow told staff on Monday.
His quote, as reported in the Times, appears to be definitive: "Fundamental changes are limited by the undertakings and in fact we see no great benefits at this stage from merging much of editorial, though we will keep this under review.
Enormous undertakings followed.
Those extra undertakings are largely meaningless – a director with journalistic experience will sit in on board meetings at the new, independently run, Sky News when editorial decisions are made, for example.
