A MAJOR inquiry into an alleged cover-up over a drug linked to thousands of birth defects risks becoming "a complete whitewash", A Bolton MP has warned.

Yasmin Qureshi led the protests about the lack of progress of the independent panel's inquiry into Primodos, a hormone pregnancy test taken by expectant mothers.

The test has been officially linked to more than 3,500 women whose babies suffered birth defects in the 1960s and 1970s, though campaigners believe the figure could be far higher.

Labour MP Ms Qureshi told the Commons the medical regulator of the time was first notified about the potential link in 1967 - but did not issue any warning until 1975.

The Government set up an independent inquiry to look into Primodos in 2014.

But the Ms Qureshi, MP for Bolton South East and the new shadow justice minister said she and other MPs with constituents affected had real concerns about the inquiry's progress so far.

She told the Commons: "Frankly, to have an inquiry which then becomes a complete whitewash is a waste of everyone's time and money, and becomes pointless having that particular inquiry.

"We are concerned, the Members of Parliament who are supporting the victims, that the way the inquiry is going, I don't think any of us have any confidence in it."

MPs heard that victims had only been allocated a day to give evidence, and some had only been given three minutes in which to make their points.

Some had travelled for between five and six hours to give evidence, Ms Qureshi said.

She also said no independent vetting had been done of the panel members on the inquiry, to check for any conflicts of interest.

Ms Qureshi said her own basic research had found one panel member posting on social media saying they did not believe Primodos had caused any defects, while another had supposedly worked with the company behind the drug.

She told MPs: "Are they actually going to carry out proper vetting of the panel, so we know they truly are independent?

"Without that, we don't have any faith in this inquiry."

Ms Qureshi added: "We're very grateful this inquiry was set up. But we have real, genuine concerns about what's happened with it, where it's going.

"There's no point in having an inquiry if it doesn't really look at things that matter. One of the things has to be the regulatory failures and the cover-ups in the 60s and the 70s, and an explanation for that."

Ms Qureshi said she had not had a satisfactory answer to a number of letters to the inquiry, while Marie Lyon, who is representing victims on the panel, had been forced to sign "a gagging clause".

Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg said: "When at the heart of the matter is a regulator who took eight years to act, between 1967 and 1975, and then is investigating many years later what it had done, it is absolutely crucial that inquiry is seen to be independent and full."