Public have lost faith in 'out of control police force'

Labour MP Keith Vaz will haul top cops in front of the home affairs select committee next month to answer questions about internal corruption and malpractice.

Mr Vaz believes the inquiry will be a "defining moment" for policing after a recent flurry of revelations about misconduct which have dented public confidence in the police.

In September an investigation into the Hillsborough disaster found shocking evidence that the statements of 164 officers had been altered to shift blame from leading police officers to the 96 football supporters who died in a crush.

Labour MPs and campaigners have also called for an inquiry into police behaviour towards striking miners at the 1984 battle of Orgreave.

Police brutally attacked the miners before falsifying statements that saw over 100 miners charged with rioting, it was alleged in a BBC investigation in October.

Before next month's inquiry Mr Vaz has called for "a new Magna Carta" for policing.

And he suggested Prime Minister David Cameron should get to grips with the police by hosting annual summits of top officers.

Mr Vaz said the summits would help to tidy up the mess created by Tory Home Secretary Theresa May.

He argued Ms May had enflamed the current crisis in policing by wrecking morale with out-of-control cuts.

"One of the first rules of management is to ensure that during a period of radical change you carry your workforce with you," he said.

"Unfortunately this has not happened."

But he added: "I strongly support Ms May's desire to reform some of the existing policing structures - something that with hindsight we must acknowledge Labour failed to do."