Beckett to chair intelligence committee

Former foreign secretary Margaret Beckett has been appointed as chairman of the government's intelligence and security committee.

The prime minister made the appointment on Tuesday following the return to the cabinet of former chairman Paul Murphy as Wales secretary last week.

The committee of MPs and peers oversees the work of the intelligence and security services but, unlike Commons select committees, currently reports to the Cabinet Office, rather than Parliament.

The chairman's role traditionally goes to a senior privy counsellor with experiece of dealing with the MI5 and MI6.

Beckett served consecutively in Tony Blair's cabinets from 1997 until Gordon Brown took power last year, first as trade and industry secretary, then leader of the House of Commons, environment secretary and finally foreign secretary, from 2006 to 2007.

The MP for Derby South since 1983 was also a minister in Labour government of the 1970s, and is widely respected as a safe pair of hands.