MPs demand right to make spy chiefs reveal secrets

SPY chiefs could be forced to hand information to Parliament under radical reforms of the intelligence watchdog proposed today.

Prime ministers would also lose the power to appoint members of the Intelligence and Security Committee.

The overhaul is meant to stop the committee being seen as a "poodle" of the premier and let it keep a closer eye on the security and intelligence services.

The committee's annual report argues that it should be controlled by Parliament, its remit should be extended to cover the work of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ rather than just policy, administration and finances and it should be able to force service chiefs to provide information, rather than just request it.

Chairman Sir Malcolm Rifkind said there was a "good prospect" that the plan would be accepted by the Prime Minister and included in a Green Paper. "This is a good opportunity to modernise and improve," he added.

The report also highlights concerns that a focus on protecting next year's Olympics could leave the security services vulnerable elsewhere.

Sir Malcolm said the committee would expect the Government to "act pretty quickly" if there was evidence that the agencies would have insufficient resources to deal with other threats.

The report also raises fears that £600million of funding for cyber security is being "spread too widely".

Highlighting attempts by criminals and foreign governments to break into computer networks, Sir Malcolm called for "much better co-ordination" to make sure work was not duplicated.

But he praised the overall work of the security and intelligence services, saying: "While the report highlights some problems or concerns, they should not detract from our view that [the services] excel at a challenging task."