MPs prepare for final attack on Terror Bill
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Your support makes all the difference.David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, will face renewed Commons attacks over his controversial package of anti-terrorism laws today.
He will encounter criticism from MPs of all parties worried by the moves designed to crack down on terrorists attempting to take refuge in Britain. Terrorist suspects will be automatically detained without trial under the plans, while police will get wider powers to check bank and medical details.
Labour left-wingers and the Liberal Democrats will mount a final attempt to water down the Anti-terrorism Bill as it goes through its remaining Commons stages before passing to the Lords.
Critics say the automatic detention move – which required Mr Blunkett to declare a "state of public emergency" in order to opt out from part of the European Convention on Human Rights – flies in the face of natural justice.
They are also vowing a last-minute attempt to remove a clause that allows police to obtain confidential documents from a suspect regardless of their relevance to a criminal investigation.
Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, said his party agreed with "quite a lot" of the proposals. But he warned: "If we allow ourselves to get into a situation where in fact we are suppressing our own individual rights, actually the terrorist begins to win. That is the balance I don't think is properly judged by the Government. It is not good to make martyrdom of certain individuals if you can deal with it in a more properly processed legal way, which recognises the proper rights of the citizen."
The Home Office denied reports that Mr Blunkett was prepared to back off from measures outlawing the incitement of religious hatred.
That section of his Bill faces an onslaught in the House of Lords from Tory and Liberal Democrat peers who argue that it will inhibit free speech.
On Wednesday, the Government suffered the biggest backbench rebellion during this parliament over its plans to detain foreign terrorist suspects. A promise by Mr Blunkett that the legislation would have to be reviewed in five years' time failed to head off the criticism.
The biggest revolt came as 32 Labour MPs opposed powers that prevent the Home Secretary's decisions being challenged by judicial review.
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