Labour Promises to Block BSkyB Deal

Britain's Labour Party has promised to block Rupert Murdoch's takeover of British Sky Broadcasting, for which the media magnate had bid $12 billion in an effort to buy 61 percent of Britain's biggest cable-television company. Labour leader Ed Miliband told BBC host Andrew Marr that he had not “declared war on Rupert Murdoch," but that should News Corp. "be allowed to take over BSkyB, to get that 100 percent stake, without the criminal investigation having being completed and on the basis of assurances from that self-same organization—frankly, that just won’t wash with the public.” PM David Cameron believes that the regulatory process that has nearly approved the BSkyB takeover should be able to continue without political interference; however, current public outrage at Murdoch and his company would make it a risky move should he block the Labour sought vote.