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Rupert Murdoch's £11.7bn takeover bid for Sky will face fresh scrutiny this week with an influential group of politicians set to meet with the telecoms regulator Ofcom to outline their opposition to the move.

Former business secretary Vince Cable said the group, which includes former Tory Lord Chancellor Ken Clarke, former Labour leader Ed Miliband, and former Labour Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer, has requested to meet with Ofcom just days after outlining in a letter their concerns over alleged governance failures and a lack of transparency at Murdoch's 21st Century Fox.

Mr Cable told Press Association: “I, together with various people from different parties - Ken Clarke, Ed Miliband, Lord Falconer - have approached Ofcom and we are going to make representations to them,” he said.

Mr Miliband's office has confirmed the group has requested a meeting for this week.

The proposed deal by 21st Century Fox, which has already been approved by EU regulators, is still under review the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and communication regulator Ofcom.

The watchdogs are investigating if Murdoch is a “fit an proper” owner and if the deal would give him too much control of the UK media.

Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Karen Bradley pushed the deadline to review the deal, originally set for May 16, out to June 20 as a result of the June 8 general election.

Under 'purdah' rules, Brady can't make a decision on the deal as restrictions on the conduct of Civil Servants and officials in the pre-election period kicks in from midnight April 21.

She said: “Given the proximity of this decision to the forthcoming general election and following discussions with the parties, Ofcom, the CMA and the Cabinet Office Propriety and Ethics team I wrote to Ofcom and the CMA on Friday 21 April to extend the period by which these reports should be submitted to Tuesday 20 June.”

Once the CMA and Ofcom reports have been submitted, the Culture Secretary will decide within 10 days whether to approve the deal or ask for a more in-depth report.

Fox is bidding to seize control of the 61 per cent of Sky it doesn't already own.

Rupert Murdoch failed in a previous bid to buy Sky through News Corporation which was scrapped as a result of the phone hacking scandal five years ago when Vince Cable was business secretary.

Cable had also been stripped of his responsibilities for overseeing media competition after he was

secretly recorded by reporters saying he had “declared war” on Murdoch over the takeover attempt.

Mr Miliband and Mr Cable's group warned in one of its letters to Ofcom this month there was “clear evidence of the Murdochs' pattern of secrecy and lack of transparency about corporate failure being repeated at Fox News, the subject of ongoing Federal investigations”.

Those allegations stem from Murdoch's handling of sexual harassment allegations against former Fox News chief executive Roger Ailes, who was forced out last summer though he left with a $40 million (£30.9 million) settlement.

Similar allegations have now led to the exit of onscreen presenter Bill O'Reilly, the April 21 letter to Ofcom noted.

It added the Murdochs must have either known about the allegations for years and failed to act - or, if they did not know, “must face grave questions about the supervision of their company”.

“We said in our original letter that no reasonable Ofcom (investigation) could conclude that the Murdochs were fit and proper to take full control of Sky,” the letter states.

“We believe these new revelations reinforce that view and trust you will take account of this mounting evidence.”

A spokesman for 21st Century Fox (21CF) said the company “has acted swiftly and decisively” to address the sexual harassment allegations at Fox News, adding that it launched an investigation and “secured the CEO's departure” within two weeks of receiving the first complaint about Mr Ailes.

The group notes it also reached a settlement with the complainant and made an unreserved public apology within the first month.

“After complaints were made about the behaviour of Mr O'Reilly, 21CF engaged outside counsel to conduct an investigation, which led to Mr O'Reilly's exit and the cancellation of the highest rated cable news show in TV history,” the spokesman said.

“21CF takes compliance matters extremely seriously.

“The transformation of its corporate governance and the controls imposed around the world were informed by the lessons learned in 2011.”