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The Business Secretary Alok Sharma has been accused of “gross interference” over an inquiry into the Government’s £400m rescue deal for bankrupt satellite maker OneWeb.
A probe by the Business Select Committee was due to call an consultant on the deal, Dr Tim Farrar, as a witness, but he was told that ministers “did not authorise” his appearance.
Darren Jones, the Labour MP and Business Select Committee chairman, said the intervention amounted to “gross interference with the work of Parliament” and said ministers had “no such power to authorise witnesses”.
However, Mr Sharma said the deal for OneWeb had not yet closed and Dr Farrar had been "closely involved in these discussions" and he did not wish to "risk prejudicing any ongoing discussions".
A OneWeb spokesman said US bankruptcy proceedings in the US were ongoing and it would be willing to offer witnesses once the chapter 11 court case was resolved.
The Committee is investigating the Government’s acquisition of a 45pc stake in OneWeb, a bankrupt satellite maker aiming to launch a constellation of 650 broadband satellites that some believe could also provide an alternative to GPS. OneWeb satellites orbit lower than standard global positioning satellites and were originally designed to provide broadband across the world, but the company filed for bankruptcy in March.
It emerged after the rescue was announced that a senior civil servant had been issued with a rare “ministerial direction” by Mr Sharma, effectively an order to override spending concerns on the deal.
MPs have said the deal appeared to be a “gamble” on technology that is unproven. The Telegraph previously reported it is likely to cost another £1bn to complete OneWeb’s satellite network.
At the hearing, MPs were told that OneWeb could provide a form of redundancy system to modern GPS systems, but was unlikely to replace it on its own.
Prof Marek Zeibart, of University College London, said there would be “multiple challenges” to using OneWeb as a full replacement to GPS or Europe’s Galileo system, due to the height of their orbit, the number required and the lack of high-tech atomic clocks.
However, he admitted that using it as a backup system it would be a “good idea” to use a low orbit system. Witnesses added the system could help boost broadband in remote locations.
The US government, which runs the global GPS network, is thought to be supportive of a backup network, since GPS is prone to jamming and interference.
Mark Dickinson, of OneWeb rival Inmarsat, told MPs using satellites to augment GPS was “not new” for “improving the accuracy [of GPS] from tens of metres down to single metres”.
Mr Jones said: “We now need to understand whether the Government still intends to invest in a sovereign satellite network for military, security and positioning purposes, in addition to its investment to OneWeb, and how it envisages the internet connection services from OneWeb will create value for money for taxpayers and British business.”