UK's Business Secretary 'has declared war on Rupert Murdoch'

A spokesperson for Mr Murdoch's News Corp said: "News Corp is shocked and dismayed by reports of Mr Cable's comments. They raise serious question’s about fairness and due process.”

in the interview, the BBC says Mr Cable is heard saying: “I have declared war on Mr Murdoch, I think I’ll win. I didn’t politicise it because it is a legal situation.

“He is trying to take over BSkyB. He has a minority shareholding and he wants a majority – and majority control would give them a massive stake. I have blocked it using the powers that I have.

“For people who know what is happening, this is a big, big thing.”

According to the BBC, Mr Cable goes on to say: "His (Mr Murdoch's) whole empire is now under attack... So there are things like that we do in government, that we can't do... all we can do in opposition is protest."

Details of Mr Cable’s additional comments emerged after David Cameron and Nick Clegg used a joint No 10 press conference to play down his earlier remarks suggesting that he could quit the coalition if he was “pushed too far” by the Tories.

The disclosure of Mr Cable’s private views on Mr Murdoch will raise questions over whether he can properly carry out his statutory role as the final arbiter of whether the takeover of BSkyB should go ahead.

Mr Cable is due to receive a report from media regulator Ofcom by the end of the year, at which point he will have to decide whether to refer the deal to the Competition Commission.

If there is a Competition Commission investigation, Mr Cable would then have to take the final decision on whether the deal should be allowed, based on the commission’s advice.