MPs to question Sun, Mail and BBC on private investigators

Senior editorial figures from the Sun, Daily Mail and the BBC are to be questioned by a cross-party committee of MPs next week on the use of private investigators.

Sun managing editor Richard Caseby, Mail deputy editor Jon Steafel and BBC director of editorial policy and standards David Jordan have all been called to give evidence to the Commons home affairs committee on Tuesday morning.

The committee is conducting an investigation into the case for statutory regulation and compulsory licensing of private investigators, following public concern about their activities as a result of the phone-hacking scandal.

The inquiry began last month, when it heard from the information commissioner Christopher Graham.

Committee chairman Keith Vaz MP said in a release: "The relationship between the media and private investigators has been the subject of intense interest in recent months. This session will give the committee the opportunity to explore why journalists use private investigators and what they use them for.

"It will also help us to understand why some sections of the media have decided not to use private investigators while others continue to do so, and to consider what impact a statutory regulatory regime might have."

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