Cable calls for 'tech titans' Google, Facebook and Amazon to be broken up

Liberal Democrat leader claims recent scandals have shown web companies have gone from 'heroes to villains very quickly'

Vince Cable has compared Google, Amazon and Facebook to the US oil monopolies that exploited their market power more than a century ago - and called for them to be broken up.

In a speech in London, the Liberal Democrat leader said a series of recent scandals, including revelations about Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, meant the "tech titans" had "progressed from heroes to villains very quickly".