"The tradition of this government has to be robust on these matters, even with a country with whom we've had the friendliest of relationships, " Rudd told SkyNewstelevision.
Mr Hunt is saying that the creation of an integrated media giant - containing News International's newspapers, Sky's television, and both businesses' online and digital operations - would be a very good thing for the UK. And, more importantly, if the regulator takes a different view, then there would be ways of getting the deal through by imposing conditions on News Corporation.