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It was blocked by a quango, not by a politician. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competition_and_Markets_Authority https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competition_and_

• giobox 3y ago
  CMA isn't a quango - its absolutely a direct government org, established by Act of Parliament. Nothing "Non-Governmental" to see here, its run by the Department for Business and Trade. From wikipedia: Type Non-ministerial government department "A non-ministerial department (NMD) is a government department in its own right, but does not have its own minister. However, it is accountable to Parliament through its sponsoring ministers." > https://www.gov.uk/guidance/public-bodies-reform https://www.gov.uk/guidance/public-bodies-reform UK ministers (politicians) can absolutely influence the CMA, there is no vote on its leaders - they are simply appointed by the Business Secretary, who can pick whomever they find most favorable to their own objectives. The Business Secretary can be replaced at any time without a vote by the Prime Minister too in a reshuffle. The only real check on the CMA would be the UK's judicial review process, if a decision was especially egregious.
  • calpaterson 3y ago
    The CMA is a quango: > In the UK, the term quango covers different "arm's-length" government bodies, including [...] non-ministerial government departments https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quango https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quango > The Competition and Markets Authority [...] is a non-ministerial government department https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competition_and_Markets_Authority https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competition_and_Markets_Author... But this specifics of what is and is not a quango don't matter. The original claim implied that the decision was made by a politician for political reasons and this isn't the case.
• airstrike 3y ago
  Sorry, I meant bureaucrat, not politician necessarily. Still appointed by a politician, though