Blair faces showdown vote on terrorism law

By Mike Peacock

LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Tony Blair
recalled his two top ministers from abroad for a knife-edge
vote on Wednesday on laws allowing police to hold terrorism
suspects for three months without trial, seen as a test of his
authority.

Defeat on the proposals would be the first major
parliamentary loss for the once untouchable Labour leader, who
has seen his dominance decline since the invasion of Iraq in
2003. British law currently allows suspects to be detained for
14 days before being charged or released.

In an indication of how close the result was likely to be,
Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown had barely touched
down at the start of a visit to Israel and the Palestinian
Territories when he turned round and flew straight back.

“It is important that the government has all its votes at
its disposal this afternoon,” he told Reuters in Tel Aviv. “The
security of the nation comes first. No government can afford to
take risks with the security of the country.”

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was also recalled from a visit
to Moscow for the crunch vote.

Ministers were forced last week to shelve the same plan
when it became clear rebels in Blair’s Labour Party were poised
to join opposition parties to vote against it in the elected
lower chamber, the House of Commons.

As national elections in May slashed Blair’s parliamentary
majority to 66 — meaning fewer than 40 Labour members can
defeat him by voting with the opposition — the vote will be
tight. His opponents are standing firm.

“We have consistently said that a 28-day period of
detention is the maximum period that we would support,” said
Michael Howard, leader of the main opposition Conservative
Party.

Blair has tied his authority to the anti-terrorism
measures, saying the extension will help police tackle a new
threat laid bare by Islamist suicide bombings in London in July
that killed more than 50 people.

Some insiders say Blair’s decision not to fight another
election has weakened his authority.

A government source said Blair was cautiously confident he
could win over enough waverers to a proposal which critics say
rips up centuries-old tenets of British law and Muslims see as
yet another attack on their increasingly alienated community.

Having talked of the need for cross-party consensus, Blair
has now asked Labour parliamentarians if they want to side with
their Conservative enemies.

Blair also believes public opinion is on his side.

A Populus opinion poll on Tuesday showed 64 percent of
those canvassed supported the 90-day detention proposal.

Blair’s government had seemed resigned to defeat on Monday,
saying it would amend its Terrorism Bill to lower the detention
limit. But it later offered only a “sunset clause” whereby the
law would lapse after a year unless parliament renewed it.

Police say they need 90 days because investigations into
terrorism can take considerable time, often involving
international checks and the decoding of vast amounts of
encrypted electronic data.

London police chief Ian Blair said officers had reached the
figure based on the experience of a number of trials and
investigations. He rejected compromises of 28 or 60 days put
forward as separate amendments to the bill.