THE Prime Minister faces opposition from his own backbenchers and the House of Lords over plans to extend the time that terror suspects can be held without charge.
The proposal, which led to Tony Blair's first defeat as Prime Minister in 2005, is set to become one of the first major Parliamentary clashes of Brown's premiership.
David Winnick, the Labour backbencher who led the revolt that saw Tony Blair's h
umiliating defeat over the issue, told Scotland on Sunday that the Government had failed to make a convincing case for a change in the law.
And Lord Avebury, the Liberal Democrats home affairs spokesman in the House of Lords, said that cross-party and independent peers as well as the bishops remained opposed to the measure.
A counter-terrorism bill to be included in the Queen's Speech on Tuesday will include a measure proposing an extension to the existing 28-day limit.
Brown had wanted to make a second attempt at introducing a 90-day limit - a measure that was rejected by MPs, including 49 Labour backbenchers, in Blair's first Commons defeat.
The continued opposition from all parties, including his own backbenchers, has persuaded the Prime Minister to reduce that to a compromise limit of around 56 days, with improved safeguards such as weekly reviews.
But Winnick, the Walsall North MP, said he remained convinced that his successful 28-day compromise amendment was the appropriate limit for detention without charge.
"It does seem that the Government is working on the assumption that although they could not get 90 days through, they can get 56 days through; but the fact remains that, even if the Commons agrees, it is unlikely to get through the House of Lords.
"If there was persuasive evidence that it's necessary for the security of our country I would agree, but there is no such evidence that 28 days is not enough. I will be disappointed if the Government does go ahead with this."
Winnick, a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said
that if the Government was lucky enough to get the measure through it would create a clash in the House of Lords, where peers remained opposed to any change in the existing law.
Lord Avebury, for the Liberal Democrats, said: "If the Government did seek to extend the time limit beyond 28 days it would find itself in some difficulty, because not only would they find party political opposition in the House of Lords but some of the crossbenchers and the bishops would have their doubts too."
He predicted that peers would seek to amend the bill to retain the existing period of detention of 28 days and to introduce strict safeguards such as specially appointed courts and lawyers to oversee the implementation of the law.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has told the Home Affairs Select Committee that it is "reasonable and proportionate" to extend the law to deal with the increasing complexity and international links of recent terror plots.
The full article contains 502 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
