A UK parliamentary committee has declared Rupert Murdoch “not fit” to lead a media company, in a damning report that criticised News Corp’s handling of the phone-hacking scandal that started at News of the World, its UK tabloid newspaper that has since closed.

The MPs also accused Mr Murdoch, News Corp chairman and chief executive, and his son James of mismanaging the crisis at the company, which has already scuppered their longstanding ambitions to take full control of British Sky Broadcasting, the group’s highly profitable UK broadcaster. “News Corp exhibited wilful blindness, for which the company’s directors – including Rupert Murdoch and James Murdoch – should ultimately be prepared to take responsibility,” the MPs wrote, adding that the committee had concluded: “Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company.”

In a statement, News Corp acknowledged “serious wrongdoing” at News of the World and said its response was “too slow and too defensive”. But it also noted that the report, endorsed by six votes to four, had divided the committee “along party lines”.