Blair faces revolt over new round of terrorism law

Tony Blair

LONDON - British Prime Minister Tony Blair will be defied by members of his Labour party over a new tranche of counter-terrorism laws which propose to allow police to hold suspects for up to 90 days without charge.

Support for the bill from the opposition Conservatives will ensure it clears its first vote in parliament unscathed but the number of Labour defectors will be keenly watched.

Some Labour members say that with Blair having declared he will not fight another election, his power to prevent supporters defying him is diminishing fast.

Since an election in May, Blair has had to operate with a parliamentary majority of 66, about 100 less than he commanded during his first two terms in power.

Ministers have been squabbling almost openly this week about plans to ban smoking in public places and the government's majority in the House of Commons was cut to just 25 last week as some Labour members voted against its bill to introduce Identity Cards.

Late on Tuesday, parliament's upper chamber the House of Lords, where Blair has never held a majority, threw out key parts of a government bill to outlaw incitement to religious hatred.

"Parliament has finally become interesting again," one veteran Labour MP said.

Up to 20 Labour parliamentarians (MPs) are expected to oppose the terrorism bill. Until May, more than 80 would have had to join all opposition parties to vote the government down.

Now it would take just 34.

"There are people in the Labour party and other parties who have very great concerns about this," Conservative home affairs spokesman David Davis told BBC Radio.

Blair has insisted that police need the 90-day holding period in some cases -- up from 14 days at present -- because of the difficulty in building a case against terrorism suspects, calling their case compelling.

The argument runs that suspects may have to be arrested earlier than would normally be the case to prevent an atrocity, requiring more time afterwards to gather concrete evidence, often involving investigations worldwide.

"The prime minister described the case as compelling," Davis said. "I don't even find it convincing."

The Conservatives say they will oppose the specific 90-day clause when the bill is debated in detail at a later stage.

- REUTERS