MP demands dismissal of gas chief

A DEMAND for the dismissal of the gas industry regulator, Claire Spottiswoode, will be made in the Commons tonight, writes Nicholas Schoon.

Bob Ainsworth, Labour MP for Coventry North-east, will say there were irregularities in her appointment to the pounds 70,000-a- year job.

He wants to know how her name got on to a shortlist at a late stage, and why the fact that she had once worked with the civil servant at the heart of the selection process, Ian Michell, was ignored. Mrs Spottiswoode has angered MPs on the Environment Select Committee by scuppering the new energy-saving trust, aimed at using money raised from household bills.