Brown names new ISC chair

LONDON, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced Tuesday the appointment of a new chair to the Intelligence and Security Committee.

Brown named former Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett to the post. Officials say Beckett replaces Labor Party MP Paul Murphy who was made Wales secretary in Brown's recent Cabinet shuffle, 10 Downing Street reported.

Beckett served in Tony Blair's cabinets from 1997 until Blair stepped down and Brown took power in 2007. She now will chair the ISC, which oversees the intelligence agencies including MI5, MI6, GCHQ and the defense intelligence staff. The ISC reports directly to the prime minister.

Beckett comes to the ISC after its annual report recently voiced concerns that funding priorities for the intelligence agencies have largely focused on counter-terrorism. Critics say the allocation of the funds primarily to counter-terrorism intelligence work could be taking away valuable resources from other security commitments.

"We are concerned that aspects of key intelligence and security work are suffering as a consequence of the focus on counter-terrorism priorities," the ISC report said, according to the BBC. "We believe consideration may need to be given to separate, additional funding to maintain the agencies' capabilities in these areas."