UK MPs reject 90-day terror detentions

The British government today suffered its first defeat in the House of Commons since Tony Blair came to power in 1997, as MPs voted down plans for terror suspects to be held for up to 90 days without charge.

Despite desperate last-minute lobbying by ministers and an impassioned plea from Mr Blair himself, MPs rejected the proposal by a margin of 31 votes.

They were later due to vote on amendments to the Terrorism Bill which would extend the current 14-day detention limit to either 28 or 60 days.

This afternoon’s 322-291 vote on the Bill’s report stage will be seen as a massive blow to the authority of the Prime Minister, who left no doubt of his commitment to the 90-day period requested by police in the wake of the July 7 bombings in London.

Chancellor Gordon Brown and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw were ordered to cut short high-profile trips overseas in order to boost numbers going through the Aye lobby.

Party chairman Ian McCartney attended Parliament for the first time since having heart surgery in order to vote.

But their presence was not enough to offset a rebellion by Labour backbenchers, who joined Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to overturn the Government’s 66-strong majority.

A tense-looking Mr Blair was in the chamber to hear the result of the vote, shaking his head as the numbers were revealed.

The scale of this evening’s defeat was a shock for Government Whips with a reported 41 Labour MPs voting against.

During stormy exchanges at Prime Minister’s Questions earlier today, Mr Blair urged MPs of all parties to be “responsible” in backing the measures put forward by police.

He told them: “We are not living in a police state, but we are living in a country that faces a real and serious threat of terrorism – terrorism that wants to destroy our way of life, terrorism that wants to inflict casualties on us without limit.

“When those charged with protecting our country provide, as they have, a compelling case for action, I know what my duty is.

“My duty is to support them, and so is the duty – in my view – of every member of this House.”

But Conservative leader Michael Howard insisted that police had failed to make a case for 90 days’ detention, which he warned could alienate Britain’s Muslim communities.

All MPs wanted to help fight the threat of terrorism, and there was a “general mood” on all sides of the House that the current 14-day restriction on detention without charge should be extended, he said. But this did not mean the 90-day proposal should be accepted without question.

“Doesn’t the inability of the Prime Minister to identify a single case where the police have needed 90 days go to the heart of his failure to justify the 90-day period?” he asked.

In an impassioned debate in the Commons this afternoon, a Labour critic of the Bill, Joan Ruddock, accused Mr Blair and Home Secretary Charles Clarke of playing party politics with anti-terror legislation.

“The Prime Minister has sought to make this debate a simple matter of party politics – something with which some of us do not agree,” she said.

But Mr Clarke denied the charge: “The question that has to be addressed... is how do we do our duty as Members of Parliament in dealing with the national interests of the national security here?

“I don’t believe that we have at any stage taken this from the point of view of seeking party politics.”

Following a failed attempt to reach cross-party consensus on the issue earlier this week, Mr Clarke offered a series of sweeteners to win over wavering MPs, including a sunset clause to require renewal of the legislation after 12 months, weekly review of detentions by a High Court judge and a code of practice for treatment of detainees.

Today, he promised to “look very carefully” at demands from Labour MP Rob Marris that suspects held for more than 14 days but then released without charge should receive compensation.