by Joe Walker
joewalker@thekmgroup.co.uk

More than 300 people in Whitstable have signed a petition calling for the BSkyB takeover decision to be suspended in the wake of the hacking scandal.

Members of the town’s Labour Party collected the signatures in just two hours on Saturday after setting up a stall in the High Street.

Heading the protest, chairman Jean Samuel said: “News International may have closed the News of the World, but we believe they still have questions to answer.

“James Murdoch admitted the paper had a thorough disregard for grieving families and decency, calling their practices 'inhuman’. We believe this is symptomatic of the whole News International culture.

“For this reason we are calling on the government to suspend this week’s BSkyB takeover decision until an independent enquiry has uncovered the truth.”

Mrs Samuel said the protest attracted huge numbers and sparked some encouraging debate.

She said: “We actually had to stay open a bit longer because we had people queuing up to sign. They all appeared to agree it was time we dealt with the Murdoch issue.

“The petition was non-partisan and people signed as individuals, not as supporters of any particular political party.”

The party has called on Whitstable MP Julian Brazier to support the petition and press the government to suspend the BSkyB decision.