I am very concerned that Rupert Murdoch is once again attempting to buy the remainder of Sky. It is very important that we have a variety of media output in this country and it is dangerous for any one individual or organisation’s share to become too large. Murdoch’s previous bid fell through following the revelations about phone hacking at News International in 2011.

I believe the Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport should refer this bid to Ofcom in order to determine whether it is in the public interest for this sale to go ahead. The fact that the petition against this bid has already gathered more than 100,000 signatures demonstrates the strength of feeling about this potentially very damaging takeover.

My Labour colleagues and I will continue to push the Government to take action on this issue. Their hesitance to do so is testament to the inappropriate influence which Rupert Murdoch still wields. There should not be a significant transfer of media power in this country without a proper public debate and scrutiny of the proposed takeover.