Lawmakers hit Brown’s moves on terror laws

BRITAIN’S chief prosecutor and ex-government legal adviser dealt new blows yesterday to Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s faltering plans to tighten terrorism laws, saying tougher measures are not needed and are likely to stir ill feelings in Muslim communities.

Lord Peter Goldsmith, a former attorney general and a close adviser to former prime minister Tony Blair, told lawmakers he has seen no evidence to support stiffer rules on detaining suspected terrorists.

Mr Brown hopes to increase the maximum time suspected terrorists can be held by police before they must be charged or released from 28 days to about 58.

Advocates say police need increasingly longer periods to scour encrypted computers, chase international leads and follow up on forensic evidence.

However, Mr Goldsmith and Ken Macdonald, the director of public prosecutions, told the Home Affairs Select Committee there was no proof any extension is necessary.

“It’s not just tough police powers that may be necessary, but winning hearts and minds,” Mr Goldsmith told the committee.

Any sign that Britain is prepared to hold suspects for weeks without charge “would damage that struggle”, he said.

Their appearance before the committee came more than two years after the July 2005 suicide bombings on London’s transportation system that killed 52 people and the four attackers.

Mr Goldsmith told the committee he would have resigned had parliament passed Mr Blair’s proposals in 2005 to extend the maximum detention to 90 days.

Mr Blair suffered a humiliating defeat when lawmakers rejected the plan, settling on a limit of 28 days.

Mr Macdonald, whose department is responsible for reviewing evidence before suspects are charged, said the current limits were working. “We are satisfied with the position as it stands at moment,” he said.

Mr Brown hopes to win support from the public, seeking to avoid any repeat of Mr Blair’s defeat in the House of Commons. But opposition lawmakers and human rights groups say they will oppose his plans.

Lawmakers held an informal meeting yesterday with Jonathan Evans, the head of domestic spy agency MI5, who has warned 2,000 people — including children and teenagers — are taking part in terrorism in Britain.

Mr Brown, speaking at his weekly parliament question session yesterday, said that number was high because of British ties to Pakistan.