• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Blair faces showdown vote on terrorism law

Posted on: Wednesday, 9 November 2005, 06:16 CST

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.

Source: REUTERS

More News in this Category