Pressure on Andy Coulson rises as top MPs' body probes hacking row

The cross-party Committee on Standards and Privileges will look at whether MPs' phones were targeted, something Labour MP Chris Bryant claimed would be "contempt of Parliament".

MPs backed Mr Bryant's call for the matter to be referred to the committee after he urged them not to be "supine" in the face of allegations that their phones were hacked.

Mr Bryant told the Commons he was one of the MPs who contacted the Metropolitan Police and was told he was on a list of those allegedly targeted by private investigator Glenn Mulcaire.

But he said he suspected that was the "tip of the iceberg" and hacking extended not just to Labour MPs but also to Liberal Democrats and Tories.

He said that hacking into MPs' phones was "a contempt of Parliament, a severe breach of parliamentary privilege".

The row centres on the period when Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson edited the Sunday tabloid newspaper, although Mr Bryant insisted his call for the committee to investigate was "not about one man".

Mr Bryant's call was backed by both front benches.

Mr Coulson has always denied any knowledge of the illegal eavesdropping at the newspaper, for which ex-royal editor Clive Goodman and Mulcaire were jailed in 2007.

The News International-owned paper insists the Goodman case was isolated and there was no widespread culture of wrongdoing among staff.

"I would urge the committee to use all of the powers at its disposal," Mr Bryant said. "That includes the power to summon any person it wishes and to require them to attend," he said.

If necessary, warrants could be issued to require witnesses to attend, he added.

Witnesses could be forced to answer a question "under pain of admonishment by the House".

"We should not accept when witnesses refuse to give a straight answer to a straight question, it should not be standard practice, which it is becoming.

"We should become, as a House, far more carnivorous in this."

Mr Bryant called for the committee to investigate how many MPs, including ministers, were targeted by Mulcaire.

The MPs should investigate whether other newspapers were involved and whether witnesses at the Culture, Media and Sport Committee's inquiry into the matter "lied to the House".

Commons Leader Sir George Young backed the call for the issue to be referred to the committee, chaired by Labour's Kevin Barron.

Shadow Commons leader Rosie Winterton also backed the move, saying: "This is an extremely serious issue and we certainly need to know whether there has been contempt of Parliament and whether there has been a breach of parliamentary privilege."

In a statement, the News of the World said: "This matter, which largely relates to alleged behaviour five years ago, has become intensely partisan.

"Amidst a swirl of untethered allegations, there should be no doubt that the News of the World will investigate any allegation of wrongdoing when presented with evidence.

"We have a zero-tolerance approach to wrongdoing."