Culture Secretary Karen Bradley has said she expects to make a decision on the 21 Century Fox bid to takeover Sky “within the coming weeks” even though Parliament rises for summer recess tomorrow.

Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox has bid £12bn to buy the 61 per cent of Sky it doesn’t already own, which would result in Murdoch companies having the third largest total reach of any UK news provider – according to Ofcom (after the BBC and ITN).

In a statement in the House of Commons today, Bradley said she was still minded to refer the deal to the Competition and Markets Authority for a fuller investigation on the grounds of media plurality.