Rupert Murdoch’s £11.7 billion bid to take full control of Sky may be referred to the competition watchdog for a wider six-month investigation, Culture Secretary Karen Bradley said yesterday.

The announcement followed a consultation, which attracted thousands of responses, on 21st Century Fox’s plan to acquire the 61 per cent of Sky that it does not already own.

Ms Bradley originally intended to refer the bid to the Competition Market Authority (CMA) solely over its effect on media plurality, after regulator Ofcom warned that it would risk giving the tycoon “increased influence” over Britain’s news agenda.

But she told MPs yesterday that she was now also “minded to” refer the merger to the CMA on the grounds of Fox’s commitment to broadcasting standards.

She said: “I consider it important that entities which adopt controversial or partisan approaches to news and current affairs in other jurisdictions should, at the same time, have a genuine commitment to broadcasting standards here.”

Ofcom’s original report concluded that there were “no broadcasting standards concerns that may justify a reference” to the CMA, but the watchdog later clarified that it had “non-fanciful concerns.”

Ms Bradley has the power to refer a bid to the CMA if she believes there is a “non-fanciful” risk of a merger operating against a specified public interest.

Shadow culture secretary Tom Watson said: “This is the first time a minister in the current government has ever stood in the way of what the Murdochs want, and frankly it’s about time.”

He said it was now up to the government to ensure that any CMA investigation was “more thorough and detailed” than Ofcom’s.