Harman to face MPs on 'contempt'

Solicitor General Harriet Harman was today forced to face MPs about her involvement in a contempt of court.

Ms Harman was said to have received sensitive family court papers from her sister Sarah, a campaigning solicitor. Sarah Harman has apologised to a judge who ruled her actions amounted to contempt.

Now her sister has been summoned to the Commons to answer an emergency question from Tories today.

Ms Harman forwarded the papers to Children's Minister Margaret Hodge who is gathering evidence about possible miscarriages of justice in care proceedings.

The papers related to a mother whose baby daughter was taken into care after she was found by a court to have put the child's life at risk. The mother is challenging a diagnosis of M¸nchausen's Syndrome by Proxy.