Government to back Labour's motion against BSkyB bid

The government intends to support a Labour motion in parliament tomorrow which will call for Rupert Murdoch to withdraw his bid for the remainder of BSkyB.

The opposition day motion, which MPs will vote on tomorrow, calls for withdrawal of the bid in light of allegations against News International title the News of the World in relation to phone hacking and police payments, and ongoing investigations.

Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt yesterday announced he would be referring the bid to the Competition Commission, after News Corporation revealed it had withdrawn its proposed undertakings to spin off Sky News as a separate company.

This afternoon the Downing Street press office confirmed that the government did intend to back Labour's motion.

In a statement given upon publication of the motion Labour leader Ed Miliband said there are times when the House of Commons "has to rise to the occasion and speak for the public".

"We have said that the purchase of BSkyB should not proceed until after criminal inquiries are complete," he said.

"The simplest way to achieve this is for Rupert Murdoch to recognise the feelings of the public and the will of the House of Commons and withdraw this bid.

"I am calling on Parliament to show its will tomorrow."

On Friday prime minister David Cameron announced that two separate inquiries would be launched to investigate the phone hacking scandal and the "culture, ethics and practices of the British press".

The first public inquiry will be led by a judge and will look into issues such as why the original police investigation failed, what was going on at the News of the World and what was going on at other papers.

The second, to launch this summer, will look into the behaviour of the British press as a whole.

Today the National Union of Journalists announced that its parliamentary group had tabled an early day motion condemning what it claimed would be up to 200 potential job losses following the closure of the News of the World and welcoming referral of the BSkyB bid to the Competition Commission.

But today News International countered claims of 200 job losses, saying it would be offering employment opportunities to the "vast majority" of staff from the News of the World.

"Starting next week, NI human resource managers will meet with each of the affected News of the World staff with a view to placing them in jobs," the statement said.

"The company has already identified 30 editorial employment opportunities across its titles, including existing job vacancies.

"NI has already confirmed that, as a first step, Fabulous magazine – the News of the World's award-winning supplement with 30 journalists – will be preserved.

"NI remains committed to investing in journalism and is proud of the fact that we are one of the biggest employers of highly skilled journalists in the world."

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