BRITAIN:British prime minister Gordon Brown has been caught up in the row over the alleged bugging of Labour MP Sadiq Khan's meetings with a constituent at Woodhill Prison.
Conservative shadow home secretary David Davis claimed yesterday that he wrote to Mr Brown on December 11th warning him that a Labour MP was being bugged, but he had received no reply, nor any indication that any action was being taken.
Number 10 subsequently denied Mr Brown had received such a letter from Mr Davis.
Home secretary Jacqui Smith is now likely to face Conservative demands for an emergency Commons statement following Mr Davis's challenge over who in government or the Metropolitan Police sanctioned the eavesdropping operation allegedly conducted by or on behalf of Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist squad.
Justice secretary Jack Straw ordered an inquiry after learning of the Sunday Times's story that Mr Khan, who is now a government whip, was recorded by an electronic listening device hidden in a table during visits to his constituent, Babar Ahmad, at the Milton Keynes jail in 2005 and 2006.
Mr Khan discussed sensitive personal and legal matters with Mr Ahmad, who is fighting extradition to the United States, which has accused him of running a website that raised funds for Taliban and Chechen terrorists in the late 1990s. Mr Khan has reportedly known Mr Ahmad since childhood and has been prominent in the campaign to prevent his extradition from Britain, where he faces no charges. The Tooting MP also declared himself "pleased" at the speed with which Mr Straw ordered an inquiry.
Mr Straw, who reportedly acted after learning of the allegations on Saturday, said it was "completely unacceptable for an interview to be conducted by an MP on a constituent matter or in any other issue to be recorded".
Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, Mr Khan said: "Clearly I'm concerned, and that's why I'm pleased that Jack Straw - as soon as he heard about these allegations - has ordered an inquiry." However, that was before Mr Davis's disputed claim to have raised the issue with the prime minister, and after international development secretary Douglas Alexander predicted there would be "deep concern" on all sides of the Commons if the allegations proved to be true.
Keith Vaz MP, Labour chairman of the Commons home affairs committee, said it would now investigate the allegations as part of a wider inquiry into whether the UK is becoming "a surveillance society".
The government-appointed intercept commissioner recently suggested that the so-called Wilson doctrine - banning the tapping of MPs' telephones - should be repealed.
However, Labour MP Andrew Mackinlay said the alleged bugging of Mr Khan was "very dangerous" and "an affront to democracy" bearing "the hallmarks of a totalitarian regime".
Mr Davis said his previous understanding was that any breach of the Wilson doctrine would require the explicit approval of the prime minister.