After a week of high drama, Rupert Murdoch has bowed to the will of the British parliament. He has withdrawn News Corp’s bid for BSkyB voluntarily rather than face an overwhelming vote in the legislature calling on him to do so.

Dropping the offer is not just the right course; it is the only sensible one open to Mr Murdoch. Thanks to the escalating phone-hacking scandal surrounding News Corp’s UK operations, the very idea of the deal proceeding has become odious to public opinion. To press on would have invited only backlash.

News Corp’s legalistic attempt to separate the hacking allegations and the merger process was always a non-starter. To be blessed by the regulatory authorities, the deal would have required undertakings from News Corp about its conduct to satisfy concerns arising from its strengthened grip on the UK media market. No government could have accepted these while some of the company’s senior executives were accused of misleading parliament and hindering police inquiries. Before returning to the fray, News Corp must put its house in order and answer the allegations laid at its door.