As Labour Motion Against BSkyB Bid Receives Cross Party Support, What Next For Rupert Murdoch?

As Labour Motion Receives Cross Party Support, What Next For Murdoch?
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Rupert Murdoch's bid to control BSkyB is under fresh pressure today as parliament prepares to vote against the £8bn deal.

Labour's call for News Corporation to withdraw the troubled BSkyB bid until after criminal investigations are completed will be supported by Conservatives and Liberal Democrats during today's commons debate.

The motion states: "This House believes that it is in the public interest for Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation to withdraw their bid for BSkyB".

A unanimous vote does not have the power to stop the merger, however a Number 10 spokesman said on Tuesday: "We would always expect people to take seriously what parliament says."

Responding to the news, Ed Miliband said: "It is welcome news that the Government says it will support our motion. It is now for Rupert Murdoch to recognise the strength of public feeling, and the will of all the major parties."

The Prime Minister will also announce an inquiry into phone hacking and the relationship between politics in the media, in the wake of the media scandal which led to the closure of Britain's national newspaper and allegations even victims of 9/11 may have been targeted.

As BSkyB shares fell again, the Murdoch family and close aides held crisis talks, according to the Times.

Rupert Murdoch gathered his closest family, friends and aides for crisis talks yesterday as the political establishment united against his ambitions to expand his media empire.

But as politicians unite to block Murdoch, News International paper The Sun is fighting back against allegations it accessed the private medical records of Gordon Brown's baby son, who has cystic fibrosis.

We discovered the ex-PM's four-year-old son Fraser had cystic fibrosis months after his birth.

We can reveal the source of our information was a shattered dad whose own son also has the crippling disease and who wanted to highlight the plight of sufferers.