19:04
Tieng Anh Vui
The Serious Organised Crime Agency has until Monday to publish the names of rogue private investigators' clients, Home Affairs Select Committee chairman Keith Vaz has said.
If it fails to do so, the committee will publish its own list.
Soca handed 102 names - which included law firms and celebrities - to the committee earlier this year, but refused to publish them and ordered the committee to keep them secret.
Mr Vaz said he had taken legal advice.
He said it was in the public interest to publish the names.
"We know it has gone to the Met and we know they have removed the names that are subject to criminal investigation," he told Soca's director general and interim chairman at committee session.
"We give you till Monday to publish this list. If you fail to publish it on Monday, we will publish it because we think it is in the public interest to do so."
List includes celebrities
The private investigators concerned were given jail sentences last year.
They specialised in illegally obtaining private information from organisations such as banks, utility companies and HM Revenue and Customs.
The clients were identified as part of Soca's inquiry, Operation Millipede, into private investigators and the practice of "blagging", which is obtaining personal information about someone - such as bank account details and medical history - without their consent.
In July, the committee published a breakdown of the clients by company type but did not name them individually.
The list includes 22 law firms, financial services and insurance firms, accountants and two celebrities.
It also includes 16 private investigation agencies, suggesting they often subcontract work to each other.
Up to 100 individuals may have had their details accessed by the private investigators and 91 have been contacted, Soca's director general Trevor Pearce has said.
Mr Pearce and Soca's interim chairman Stephen Rimmer were appearing before the Home Affairs Select Committee.
"The committee has taken the view that this list should be published. We would like you to publish the list. We see nothing wrong with you publishing the list," Mr Vaz told them.
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