MPs want News of the World pair rebuked by Parliament

MPs are calling for the former editor and legal manager of the News of the World to be ordered before Parliament to be "admonished by the Speaker".

In September Colin Myler and Tom Crone were found in contempt of Parliament over evidence they gave to a committee about phone hacking.

MPs are expected to support a report admonishing the men on Thursday.

If approved, the pair could be the first non-MPs in 60 years to be punished in Parliament under the rule.

Led by phone-hacking victim and ex-Labour minister Chris Bryant, the MPs are tabling an amendment calling for the former newspaper executives to be ordered "to the Bar of this House and there be admonished by the Speaker".

He said that the two men "have effectively been putting two fingers up to the Commons culture, media and sport committee and to parliament".

'Dispute the process'

"They dispute the findings, they dispute the committee's right to do what it has done, they dispute the whole process," he said, adding that "Parliament should take this seriously".

Mr Myler and Mr Crone appeared before the culture committee in 2009 and 2011, to answer questions about the extent of phone hacking at the News of the World.

The paper had initially claimed that the illegal practice was limited to a single reporter and a private investigator with whom he worked. But evidence emerged that hacking was more widespread and the paper was forced to close in 2011 because of the scandal.

The privileges committee found that Mr Myler misled the culture committee by denying that he was aware of phone hacking or other wrongdoing by staff, apart from royal correspondent Clive Goodman who was jailed in 2007 for hacking-related offences.

It said Mr Crone misled the committee on the same issue and also with regard to the "significance of confidentiality" in a settlement reached between the paper and Professional Footballers' Association boss Gordon Taylor.

'Holding to account'

Mr Myler said at the time that the findings were "profoundly disappointing".

Former legal manager Mr Crone said he did not accept the findings made against him and stood by his evidence on both issues for which he was criticised.

Chris Bryant previously received £30,000 in damages after his phone was found to be among those to have been hacked, but he said the call to summon the former paper executives was not personal.

"In the end it is our job as representatives of our constituents to hold the mighty to account, whether they are government ministers or senior executives in business, and if we can't rely on witnesses giving truthful, honest answers, then democracy flounders," he said.

If the amendment is approved, the men would be the first non-MPs to be summoned since 1957 - the then-editor of the Sunday Express, John Junor, was admonished for publishing an article that cast doubt on the integrity of MPs over their petrol allowances.