Blair backs down on terror legislation
Opposition, Labour rebels lead charge against 90-day detention period, 'glorification of terrorism' clauses.
In the face of the possibility of the Labour government's first defeat on a major bill in eight years, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Home Secretary Charles Clarke decided to
"back down" on a key counterterrorism proposal.
Reuters reports that members of parliament, including many rebel members of Blair's own party, were poised to vote down a government plan to let police hold terror suspects for up to 90 days without charge.
When it became obvious during the acrimonious debate that the plan would not pass, Mr. Clarke withdrew it, saying he would "launch a new round of cross-party talks to try and reach a compromise."
The decision to withdraw the contorversial legislation came at the end of a bad day for Blair.
The Times of London reports that earlier in the day, his government had
managed to defeat by only one vote (300-299) an amendment that would have restricted "a new offence of glorifying terrorism by stating explicitly that the prosecution must prove that the defendant intended to encourage others to commit terrorist offences." As it was, Home Office Minister Hazel Blears said she would "look again at objections" to this part of the terror legislation.
Many rebel Labour MPs pointed out that as the legislation is currently written, members of Blair's own government would have been prosecuted for their support of the African National Congress in South Africa before the end of apartheid. They also said Blair's wife, Cherie, could have been prosecuted for "her well-publicized comment that she well understood how young Palestinians became terrorists given the illegal occupation of Palestinian land."
The Independent reports that Dominic Grieve, the Conservative opposition's shadow attorney general, said that "
The glorification of Robin Hood is likely to be covered by this."
Blair also saw one of his key cabinet members, David Blunkett,
resign for a second time, as noted in the
International Herald Tribune and elsewhere.
On the issue of the legislation dealing with the 90-day detention period, the
BBC reports that Clarke has asked for a week to see if he can find a consensus and avoid defeat in Parliament.
"My proposal is that we engage in urgent discussions with colleagues on all sides of the House to see if we can reach consensus on a figure beyond 14 days," said Mr. Clarke. Labour MP David Winnick, who led the opposition to the legislation and had proposed a compromise time limit of 28 days, said he was
willing to listen to what Clarke had to say but "if it's a question of 90 days being dropped to 80 days or 75 days, I believe that is totally unacceptable."
Most opposition and rebel Labour MPs support the 28-day detention idea. The Conservative shadow home secretary David Davis and Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten, told
Channel 4 News that any period longer than 28 days would be "
a non-starter."
"We certainly won't be accepting 90 days. It will be a number much, much lower than that," Mr Davis said. The
Guardian reports that British police continue to back the idea of the
90-day detention period for terrorist suspects. Andy Hayman, the Scotland Yard assistant commissioner in charge of counter-terrorism, said the current 14-day period didn't give people enough time to do a thorough investigation.
"What we experienced on July 7, with mass loss of life, puts us on to another level, and that new level demands new legislation," he said. "However difficult it is to confront the investigative challenges of modern-day terrorism, that is the new normality we are facing. We have to make sure that the police can progress that on behalf of the victims and to achieve the best chance of a conviction."
Mr. Hayman was adamant that the 90-day proposal was not some sort of "bartering tool", with police privately prepared to accept a shorter timespan.
Meanwhile, Blair also was facing uncomfortable questions about his support for Ethiopia's prime minister, Meles Zenawi, after that nation's police shot and killed at least 30 people in
two days of protests over recent elections, which opposition parties say were rigged.
The Times reports that Blair had called Mr. Zenawi one of a
"new breed" of African reformers.
As scores of wounded were taken to hospitals across the capital, gangs of youths shouted anti-Blair slogans at British people. A Briton working for the UN told The Times: "They were not threatening, but there is a lot of anger over Britain's support of this Government. They shouted things like, 'Tell Blair to open his eyes', and, 'Tell your Government what is happening here'." Another Briton said: "When is the West going to realise this Government is a bunch of morons?" Britain called Ethiopia's ambassador to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London to convey the Blair government's anger at the events, and the British ambassador delivered a strong protest note to the Ethiopian government in Addis Ababa.
Also...
•
Senate stunt juiced up intelligence probe (
Boston.com)
•
Afghan escapee belatedly named as Bin Laden lieutenant (
Washington Post)
•
Reports of secret CIA prisons prompt concern (
LA Times)
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