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David Cameron was looking increasingly isolated on Sunday as his Liberal Democrat coalition partners indicated that they may back Labour’s parliamentary vote to delay Rupert Murdoch’s takeover of BSkyB until after the police have concluded their investigations into phone hacking at the News of the World.

Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, said News Corp’s attempt to acquire BSkyB could not go ahead until the criminal investigation into phone hacking at the Murdoch-owned tabloid was complete. “I don’t believe it is right and I don’t believe the public will accept a position where this bid is waved through in the coming months”, he told the BBC’s Marr show.

Labour is preparing a motion on Wednesday calling on the government to delay a decision over whether to give Mr Murdoch regulatory clearance to buy the 31 per cent of the BSkyB he does not own. The opposition is likely to be joined by Lib Dems from the government benches with Chris Huhne, the energy secretary, and Simon Hughes, deputy party leader both suggesting on Sunday their party would back the Labour motion if it is not considered too partisan.

Government insiders confirmed Mr Cameron was desperately trying to find a way to see off Mr Miliband’s motion by finding a way of delaying the bid before the parliamentary debate gets under way. “He doesn’t want to be seen to be on the wrong side of this debate,” said one. But the quasi-judicial constraints within which Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary, is making the decision over News Corp’s bid for BSkyB offers little wriggle room for the government. “Everyone wants to kick it into the long grass, it is just a question of what you are able to do legally,” said a Whitehall official.

Mr Hunt will consult with his lawyers on Monday to see what affect a parliamentary vote could have on his quasi-judicial role, but sources in Whitehall said they did not expect it to have much bearing on Mr Hunt, unless Labour decided to try to change the Enterprise Act to strip him of his quasi-judicial status.

Mr Miliband, seizing the moral high ground, said on Sunday: “I say this to the prime minister candidly, over the next 72 hours I hope he changes his position on this because I don’t want to force this to a vote in the House of Commons, but I think he’s got to understand that when the public have seen the disgusting revelations that we’ve seen this week, the idea that this organisation – which engaged in these terrible practices – should be allowed to get that 100 per cent stake without the criminal investigation being completed ... I’m afraid that won’t wash.”

Meanwhile, Mr Hughes invited Labour to talk to the Lib Dems about a non-partisan motion. “My recommendation to colleagues – it is not my final decision, it's a parliamentary party decision – would be that we as a parliamentary party make clear that it’s our view that the takeover should not go ahead until the criminal investigations are completed,” he told Sky News.

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