We're such a feeble nation that Murdoch was bound to triumph .... if he gets BSkyB, it will be a victory for monopoly capitalism.

Rupert Murdoch has always had an eye for a great deal. When he bid £7.2bn for the balance of BSkyB he did not own, he got in before other shareholders tumbled to how valuable the company was becoming. Full control would open up rich opportunities for "tax efficiencies" and cross-selling so crucial in the future digital world. His was a roll of the dice, leading, as he knows better than anyone, to a degree of press and television concentration unmatched anywhere. He had squared away David Cameron, as he had so many British and Australian prime ministers before.

On Friday, a report in the Financial Times suggested that he is finally close to his goal - an announcement could be made as soon as this week.

Britain, a country run by investment bankers for investment bankers, is organised on the principle that ownership does not matter. It is as easy as pie to buy quoted companies and then simple to act with only the faintest of constraints.

Our cross-ownership rules in the media are the lamest of any in an industrialised country. Anybody who objects to this is jumped on as "anti-enterprise".

There was one obstacle to Murdoch's ambitions - a clause Lord David Puttnam wrote into the 2003 Communications Act that media concentration must not inhibit the plurality of news provision. This concerns the BSkyB deal in two ways: that once Murdoch owns the entire company he can integrate his print and television news operations into one. And second, the sheer market power of News Corp wholly owning BSkyB will make it impossible for most other news organisations to compete in five to 10 years' time. There is another concern - the impact on Britain's important cultural and creative industries will be devastating. I know of at least one major US television group which decided not to invest in the UK. It is a "post-mature" market that in its view is now de facto controlled by the Murdoch family. The market is being given to him giftwrapped.

OfCom recommended that the issues raised were so profound the bid should be referred to the Competition Commission, which at the very least implied months of delay and Murdoch having to pay a very much higher price even if he did get the go-ahead. But Mr Murdoch is a past master at running rings around our timorous politicians and hamstrung regulators. He bought the News of the World in 1969 exploiting every loophole in the take-over code. His agreement to co-run the paper with the ex-owner Sir William Carr lasted all of three months. He bought the Times and Sunday Times in 1981, avoided referral to the Monopolies Commission courtesy of Margaret Thatcher because the papers were loss-making, and agreed to run the titles with independent directors as custodians of impartial journalism, who soon were ignored. BSkyB was a tougher challenge, but as his mother once said, Rupert loves a challenge.

Such a feeble nation