The home affairs committee will also ask what action has been taken to avoid leaks from the phone hacking investigation
Credit: Nigel Chadwick. Some rights reservedThe deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Mark Simmons, will appear before the home affairs committee on Friday, to answer questions on its plans to seek a court order against the Guardian.
Earlier this week the police force said it would be applying for a production order under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act on Friday (23 September) to secure the handover of documents relating to sources of phone hacking coverage by the newspaper, such as a report on the alleged hacking of Milly Dowler's phone.
In its application it also referred to the Official Secrets Act in relation to "possible offences" which may have been committed by an officer from Operation Weeting, the team investigating phone-hacking allegations.
The officer in question was arrested on 18 August on suspicion of misconduct in a public office, relating to unauthorised disclosure of information, and is currently on bail.
The police force has since said it will not pursue this week's application, following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service and having taken further legal advice.
Following this news the home affairs select committee has invited deputy assistant commissioner Mark Simmons to provide a private briefing on Friday on the Metropolitan Police's use of the Official Secrets Act.
Committee chair MP Keith Vaz said: "I have asked the Metropolitan Police to give the committee a full explanation of why they took the decision to invoke the Official Secrets Act and to provide us with a timeline as to exactly who was consulted.
"I am also concerned to find out what action the Metropolitan Police have taken to prevent further information leaks from Operation Weeting. It is essential that we get the full facts."
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