Artist Grayson Perry shows his support at the picket line

MORE than 100 jour­nalists at the Guardian and the Observer were waving flags and giving out cupcakes as they embarked on a two-day strike protesting the sale of the paper to Tortoise Media.

They were joined on the picket line on Wednesday by a host of famous faces, who were there to show their support for the first strike at the Guardian for more than 50 years.

The industrial action was sparked by a plan which would see the Sunday title sold to Tortoise, which is run by James Harding, a former Times editor and ex-director of BBC News.

Observer staff have been told that if the sale goes ahead they can choose between taking voluntary redundancy on enhanced terms, or choose to transfer to Tortoise, in which case their existing contracts will be honoured.

But Paul Webster, who was editor of the paper until he retired just two weeks ago, said the deal offered “a very uncertain future for the Observer”.

Stewart Lee

“In fact I think it offers no proper future at all,” he said. “It’s a bad thing for the Guardian because the Observer contributes a great deal to the Guardian and because they work together very well as two complementary titles, and it’s a bad thing for the future of progressive journalism in this country.”

While the Scott Trust’s £1.3billion fund underpins both papers, Guardian Media Group has argued that sustaining the Observer is too much of a financial burden. Mr Webster said he does not accept this and finds the decision to sell “mystifying”, adding: “That’s very baffling to me. The company’s account is that we have a bright future with Tortoise Media and in some ways our continued existence here is an impediment to the Guardian, which I don’t accept. With the amount of money the company has to develop its own journalism, the sorts of figures that we’re talking about make no real difference to that at all.”

The former editor added it would be a “tragedy” if the plan went forward, telling the Tribune: “I was here when the Observer was first taken over by the Guardian. I’ve watched the papers grow together in some respects. It’s never been easy, there have always been tensions and issues to resolve but it would feel to me like it’s the breaking up of a very coherent family of titles. It would be a tragedy for me, but not only for me, for the country’s media”.

We’re All Going On A Bear Hunt writer Michael Rosen

Meanwhile, children’s writer Michael Rosen said the sale reminded him of the way football team’s were traded over the heads of employees without any consultation.

He said: “We shouldn’t be in this state of doubt, we should know what is going on. The idea that people sit in boardrooms coming up with shady deals. This is the 21st century. It’s incredible.”

Comedian Stewart Lee, who writes a twice-monthly column for the paper, said: “There’s never been a time where we need an independent press able to tell the truth more, because you’ve got people like Elon Musk coming in, taking control of the means by which information is disseminated, and spreading actively false information with real consequences for people’s lives.”

Artist Sir Grayson Perry told the Tribune: “The Observer is one of a dwindling number of more progressive organisations that are struggling in some ways so you’ve got to support them and hope that they thrive.”

The action was continuing yesterday (Thursday).

A Guardian Media Group spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday: “We respect the right of NUJ members to strike and have initiated a plan to minimise the impact on staff and readers, continuing to publish online and in print.

“While we recognise the strength of feeling towards the potential changes proposed, our priority is to ensure the Observer’s journalism continues to have a leading role in the liberal media landscape.”

Watch interviews on the picket line on our political channel from later today (Fri). Go to: youtube.co.uk/@peepsonline