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.