Terror law plans to be unveiled

BBC
Thursday January 24, 2008

The government is pressing ahead with plans to allow the police to hold terrorism suspects for up to 42 days before they are charged.

The Counter Terrorism Bill, due to be published later, will propose to extend the limit beyond the current 28 days.

Some senior police officers support the move but it could be beaten by Lib Dem, Tory and rebel Labour MPs.

Attempts to extend the limit to 90 days in 2005 ended in then prime minister Tony Blair's first Commons defeat.

A survey by the Independent newspaper last month suggested 38 Labour MPs were against the 42-day plan, more than the 34 needed to defeat it.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, mindful of a potential rebellion, has been meeting backbenchers to press her case.

'Mass casualties'

She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme there was "a consensus that we face a serious threat from terrorism".

Ms Smith added: "It's growing in scale. It's becoming more complicated in nature. People need to intervene earlier because of the way in which it aims to cause mass casualties with no warning."

She also said that "there may come a time in the future where having to release somebody at 28 days in a very complex investigation might mean that you are not able to go forward and charge them and bring them to prosecution".

Asked whether she was proposing legislation to deal with a hypothetical situation, the home secretary replied: "We are putting in a provision for if it becomes unhypothetical."