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| Extended terror limits proposed | |
| (about 8 hours later) | |
| New proposals to extend the period that terrorist suspects can be detained without charge are to be unveiled by ministers, the BBC has learned. | New proposals to extend the period that terrorist suspects can be detained without charge are to be unveiled by ministers, the BBC has learned. |
| They would permit detainees to be held for a maximum 58 days - 28 as now, plus 30 extra under emergency powers laws. | They would permit detainees to be held for a maximum 58 days - 28 as now, plus 30 extra under emergency powers laws. |
| Tories, Lib Dems and some Labour MPs are expected to oppose the plans. | |
| Shadow home secretary David Davis said there was "not an ounce" of evidence for a plan which seemed to be driven by political rather than security needs. | |
| BBC political editor Nick Robinson said the government would offer safeguards as they seek to win over opponents. | |
| These would include time-limiting the powers so that they might only last a matter of months, rather than years. | These would include time-limiting the powers so that they might only last a matter of months, rather than years. |
| Stepped up | |
| They would also be subject to both judicial and Parliamentary review. | They would also be subject to both judicial and Parliamentary review. |
| Although current emergency powers already allowed for a 30-day extension, the government wants the ability to lengthen detention in certain cases without having to declare a state of emergency, it is understood. | |
| The issue of how long terror suspects can be detained without charge was one which led to Tony Blair's first defeat as prime minister, when he sought to increase the limit to 90 days. | |
| And it appears that the caveats being proposed are intended to find a formula where Gordon Brown could avoid defeat if increasing the 28 day limit was put to a vote in the Commons. | |
| Mr Davis told BBC Radio 4's Today that the Conservatives had been "bending over backwards" to reach agreement on terror detention and that there was "no evidence whatsoever" for extending it beyond 28 days. | |
| He said if there were exceptional circumstances, such as a large number of simultaneous plots being probed, his party would back the government using temporary emergency powers under civil contingency laws to detain people. | |
| Instead, he said, the government was wanting powers which amounted to a "permanent undeclared state of emergency". | |
| 'Evidence' | |
| And he said security minister Lord West's "grovelling retraction" on extending the terror detention limit on Wednesday morning, after a meeting with Gordon Brown, showed the issue was about political considerations rather than genuine security needs. | |
| Lord West's apparent change of mind - he said he had merely got his words wrong initially - was called "Keystone Cop" politics by the Lib Dems. | |
| And David Winnick, a Labour MP opposed to any extension, told Today that he had not been persuaded to back the proposals, despite the outlined safeguards. | |
| Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he is determined to build a consensus on extending the limit beyond the current maximum of 28 days. | Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he is determined to build a consensus on extending the limit beyond the current maximum of 28 days. |
| Ministers and the government appointed overseer of terror laws, Lord Carlile, have all said they believe the 28 day limit will need to be extended because of the growing complexity of cases being investigated. | |