Phone hacking: Government rejects calls for delay to BSkyB bid

The government has rejected calls in the House of Lords this morning for a delay to the decision on whether News of the World parent company News Corp can take full control of broadcaster BSkyB.

In an emergency question in the House this morning, shadow leader of the chamber Baroness Royall asked if the government whether, "in the light of the loss of public and commercial confidence in News International and the imminent closure of the consultation period, whether they will suspend consideration of News Corporation's bid to takeover BSkyB".

The current consultation over the bid is due to end tomorrow, and the secretary of state Jeremy Hunt has reportedly received 100,000 responses to the consultation, bolstered undoubtedly by organised campaigns following the phone-hacking revelations.

Responding to Royall's question, government whip Lady Rawlings said that consideration over the bid would not be suspended but stressed that, with 100,000 submissions to examine, Hunt would not be rushed in his decision.

She also said that the decision over whether News Corp should be allowed to take full control of BSkyB was based on concerns over media plurality and not phone hacking, adding that Hunt was satisfied with the undertakings from News Corp to safeguard plurality.

Royall called Scotland's response "unsatisfactory" and said the deal should not be allowed to go ahead. She had earlier told the house that the government could have elected to judged the BSkyB takeover bid on broadcasting standards as well as media plurality but chose not to.

BBC business correspondent Robert Peston said this morning that the number of submissions would mean that a decision would not be made until September at the earliest.

Ofcom announced yesterday that it was "closely monitoring" the phone hacking revelations with regard to the takeover bid. The broadcasting regulator recommended in January that the bid to be referred to the competition commission in March, but following undertakings from News Corp to "spin off" Sky News under an independent company, Hunt decided against a referral.

The regulator has the power to intervene in the bid at any stage however if it feels that News Corp is not a fit and proper organisation to hold a broadcasting licence.

Hunt was attacked by Labour MPs in the House of Commons today for appearing to stick to his statement that he was ready to give the bid a green light, despite damning revelations about phone hacking at News Corp newspaper the News of the World.

Speaking to the BBC this morning, Labour leader Ed Miliband reiterated his calls yesterday for the government to suspend the decision over the bid and give an investigation into phone hacking "breathing space".

Miliband also repeated his call for the News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks to resign, saying: "The only people in the world who seem to think that she should carry on in her position are Rupert Murdoch and David Cameron."

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