Sir Malcolm Rifkind's role as head of security committee under threat
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Version 0 of 1. Sir Malcom Rifkind’s role as chair of the committee overseeing the UK’s intelligence agencies hangs in the balance, with the committee due to rule on Tuesday morning whether he still has their confidence amid a cash-for-access scandal. The House of Commons intelligence and security committee (ISC) is also due to question senior intelligence chiefs as it prepares to publish its report into Edward Snowden’s revelations of widespread surveillance by several agencies. A former ISC chair Lord King, said the key issue for Rifkind was “whether he has the confidence of the committee”, stressing that it was vital that the Snowden report was not disrupted and is published before the election. King said Rifkind would be very much affected by the verdict of his fellow committee members. Related: Malcolm Rifkind under pressure to resign as ISC chair: Politics Live blog Rifkind’s predecessor as ISC chair, Kim Howells, told BBC’s Newsnight it was vital that the reputation of thecommittee was not tarnished, saying its work was too important for its reputation to be “dragged down”. Committee members are reluctant to see Rifkind resign but will have to make a difficult judgment on whether their critical report into the legality of the intelligence service behaviour will be damaged if it is published with Rifkind as chairman. King said it would be better for the parliamentary commissioner for standards to decide this week whether Rifkind had broken any rules by holding discussions with a fictitious Chinese firm – set up by Channel 4 and the Daily Telegraph – on which he was being offered a seat on its advisory board. He said he could not understand why it would take the parliamentary commissioner until next week to reach a judgement. Lord Butler, the former head of the civil service and a committee member, would be the natural caretaker chairman if Rifkind decided to stand aside. Howells, a Labour former minister, was among the first senior figures to suggest publicly that Rifkind should step down from the ISC. Howells told Newsnight it might be the best way forward if Rifkind hands over to someone else for the duration of the investigation. And he warned that its reputation “isn’t being improved when it looks as if the chair of the committee is the victim of a sting operation”. Asked if Rifkind should resign, Howells said: “It’s going to be very difficult for him, but the decision has got to be made by the committee.” He warned that “if the intelligence and security services are not properly overseen and accountable to parliament and the people, then all hell can break loose”. Howells also said he was “a bit bewildered” that Rifkind had boasted of having a lot of time to the reporters, who were posing as representatives of the company. He said: ”The amount of reading on that committee is phenomenal; so much classified material comes across the desks of the ISC, and you have to read it in the offices of the ISC.” David Cameron has signalled that Rifkind could lose his safe Kensington and Chelsea parliamentary seat if the internal Conservative inquiry finds against him. However, the prime minister said he could not interfere with the chairmanship of the ISC. He rejected a suggestion byEd Miliband that MPs should be banned from having second jobs in the wake of the allegations. The opposition Labour leader is expected to consult on proposals to limit the amount of money MPs can earn from outside parliament to 10% or 15% of the their salary. Jack Straw, also embroiled in the cash-for-access story, was also the subject of further allegations on Tuesday, as the Telegraph reported he had talked of getting a future job with a firm for which he lobbied a minister on an unpaid basis. He was reported to have told undercover reporters that he had helped the furniture firm “get on the ladder”. Straw claims that he helped Lancashire-based Senator International because it employed a large number of people from his constituency. |