The British government has indicated it will support an opposition motion calling on News Corp to withdraw its bid for BSkyB.
This means all three main UK parties are set to back the parliamentary motion calling on Rupert Murdoch to abandon his bid.
The motion tabled by Labour leader Ed Miliband states that 'this House believes that it is in the public interest for Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation to withdraw their bid for BSkyB'.
News Corp's attempt to buy the 61% of shares in the satellite broadcaster which it does not already own was yesterday referred to the Competition Commission by British Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
'There are times when the House of Commons has got to rise to the occasion and speak for the public,' Mr Miliband this afternoon.
'We have said that the purchase of BSkyB should not proceed until after criminal inquiries are complete. 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.'
Mr Murdoch's company yesterday withdrew its offer to hive off Sky News as a separate company as part of its proposed bid and said it was now ready to engage with the Commission instead.
The move forced the hand of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who had faced increasing pressure from the Opposition to refer the approach to the regulator.
News Corp now faces a potential wait of up to a year before any deal can be completed.
Ofcom said it would write to police and other relevant authorities to determine whether the News International hacking allegations affected News Corp's position as a 'fit and proper' broadcast licence-holder.
Murdochs to face committee questioning
Meanwhile, British lawmakers have summoned Rupert Murdoch and his top executives for questioning.
Mr Murdoch flew to Britain on Sunday to take control of the crisis and today held meetings with News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, who was News of the World editor at the time of some of the hacking, and other key figures.
Lawmakers took advantage of his presence to call on him, his son, News Corp executive James Murdoch, and Ms Brooks to appear before them to face questions about hacking and allegations that Murdoch papers paid police for information.
News International said it would 'cooperate' with the request from the House of Commons culture, media and sport select committee to appear next week.
Pressure is continuing to mount on Rupert Murdoch after claims the Sunday Times obtained the private financial details of former British prime minister Gordon Brown when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer.
However, a spokesman for the Sunday Times insisted 'no law was broken' in its investigation of the purchase of a flat by Mr Brown.
The Sun is also accused of accessing his son's medical records, while Rebekah Brooks was editor.
The Brown family said they were 'shocked' by the alleged 'criminality' and 'unethical' methods used to intrude into their private life.
Mr Brown's spokeswoman said: 'Gordon Brown has now been informed of the scale of intrusion into his family's life.
'The family has been shocked by the level of criminality and the unethical means by which personal details have been obtained. The matter is in police hands.'
The Sun has tonight denied accessing the medical records of Fraser Brown, insisting it learnt he had cystic fibrosis from a member of the public.
It said: 'The story The Sun ran about their son originated from a member of the public whose family has also experienced cystic fibrosis.
'He came to The Sun with this information voluntarily because he wanted to highlight the cause of those afflicted by the disease.'
Meanwhile, Scotland Yard's Assistant Commissioner John Yates was questioned by MPs today after admitting he failed to fully investigate the phone hacking scandal two years ago.
He has expressed extreme regret for not re-opening the inquiry.
But Labour's Chris Bryant has called for his resignation, telling the House of Commons that Scotland Yard's most senior counter-terrorism officer was guilty of 'repeatedly lying' to MPs.
Labour MP Tom Watson added that the officer's position was now 'untenable' after he 'misled parliament'.
