News Corporation takeover bid for BSkyB the deal, the proposal was referred to Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State for culture, media and sport. Hunt initially elected not to refer to the deal to the Competition Commission, announcing on 3 March 2011 that he intended to accept a series of undertakings given by News Corporation, paving the way for the deal to be approved. The undertakings would have led to Sky News being severed from BSkyB. On 23 June it was reported that News Corp had reached an agreement with Ofcom to approve the takeover, on the basis of Sky News becoming a separate company. By
News Corporation takeover bid for BSkyB suggested that as a result of the phone hacking scandal, it would be politically difficult or impossible for News Corp to proceed with its takeover plans. In addition to public pressure for the deal to be withdrawn or for the Government to halt the proposal, Britain's major political parties all expressed the view that the deal should not go ahead. The Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives both indicated that they would support an opposition day motion from Labour calling on News Corp to rescind its offer. On 13 July, shortly before the House of Commons was due to debate the