MPs call for inquiry commission power

A committee of MPs has called for Parliament to have the power to launch its own inquiries into major issues.

The Commons public administration committee said in new a report on Friday that new parliamentary commissions of inquiry should be allowed to be established into controversies such as the Iraq war without the agreement of the government.

It found that matters of "exceptional" public concern should be subject to probes regardless of whether or not the prime minister approved.

The commissions should also have enforceable powers to summon witnesses and demand access to official papers, the report recommended.

Commission members could be made privy councillors in order to allow them to view secret security and intelligence files, the MPs said, while external members with specialist expertise could be appointed to sit on relevant inquiries.

Committee chairman Tony Wright said: "Parliament should be able to initiate inquiries into serious issues of public concern, such as Iraq - especially in cases where the government is reluctant to set up its own inquiry.

"This is what the public, rightly, expects Parliament to do.

"We have proposed a process for establishing a parliamentary inquiry where there is the need for one, through the creation of a parliamentary commission of inquiry.

"This would be a crucial addition to our constitutional arrangements, and one which would help ensure that Parliament really can hold the executive to account for its actions. It is now up to Parliament to take the initiative."