Keith Vaz has signalled his intention to reveal the names of 94 companies and individuals linked to rogue private investigators despite police concerns that that may damage potential inquiries. “I don’t think that Parliament should be part of a ‘secret squirrel’ club where we are given a list that is important and should be in the public interest and we are not able to publish it,” said Mr Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee. “This list has been around for a number of years and nobody has done anything about it.” Mr Vaz has already detailed the types of businesses involved, and could use parliamentary privilege to reveal the names of clients of a group of private detectives jailed last year for privacy offences. The clients’ details were obtained by Operation Millipede, led by the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca). Soca has told Mr Vaz that publication of the names is his decision. Trevor Pearce, the agency’s director-general, said in a letter on July 22 that the list “enjoys the protection afforded to proceedings in Parliament”, and although Soca had provided it on a confidential basis for the sight of the committee only, the committee would “of course make its own decisions regarding this matter”. Mr Pearce continued: “However, for the avoidance of doubt, Soca does not participate in, endorse or authorise any further publication of the information.” It was Soca that gave Mr Vaz the list, which contains the names of 22 law firms, 10 insurance firms, eight financial services companies, four management consultancies, four food services companies, a car rental business, an accountancy business and clients from the chemical and construction industries. There are nine personal clients, two celebrities and 16 other private detectives. There are also five organisations or individuals on the list who are under investigation as part of Operation Tuleta, Scotland Yard’s inquiry into computer hacking. Mr Vaz told the BBC’s Today programme: “The reason that we can’t publish it at the moment - though I am consulting with members of the committee and we will come to a view on this - is because we are told that both the Information Commissioner and the Metropolitan Police may be interested in investigating the 94 companies, firms, individuals that are on the second list. “The deadline, if you like, is when we publish our report into private investigators, we would like to be in a position where we publish the entire list. But we don’t want to compromise any investigation that the Metropolitan Police may or may not be involved in. “Frankly, what it just needs is somebody to go along to the 94. This can be cleared up quite quickly. You should ask the firms involved did they know that the rogue investigators were getting illegal information, were they acting illegally. If yes, then you have to consider criminal liability. If no, then you cross them off. These companies, individuals and firms don’t even know they are on this list.” Mr Vaz has written to Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick, who has overall control of the operation, to ask if Scotland Yard has any further interest in the firms on the list. He has asked Ms Dick and the Information Commissioner’s Office to confirm when the public will be able to see the names on the list. Mr Pearce emphasised that Soca was not alleging that any of the names on the list had committed a crime. “It remains entirely possible that a private investigator could act illegally but that the client remains entirely unaware of that illegality,” he said. Mr Vaz said that Soca and the police would appear before the committee on September 3 to update members on progress. Theresa May, the Home Secretary, is this week expected to announce proposals that will require private detectives to have a licence to operate. Anyone found guilty of hacking or “blagging” will be barred from obtaining a licence. Private investigators have accessed information through methods including phone and computer hacking, blagging - faking an identity to draw information from an official spokesman - and phone interceptions.
Posted on: Thu, 01 Aug 2013 15:05:20 +0000
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