Government Narrowly Win Detention Vote

The Government has cleared the first hurdle in the contentious terror suspect detention debate - but only by a small majority in the Commons.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown won the proposal to extend the current 28-day detention pre-charge limit to 42 days – but just by nine votes - coincidentally the same number of Northern Ireland DUP MPs whose votes were being relied on by the PM.

DUP MPs have strongly denied that there were incentives for their vote – such as inducements with extra funding for Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward also denied that there was anything untoward and told the BBC that "there was no deal" and that the DUP decided to vote with the Government "on principle".

Labour rebels have also denied being "bribed" with promises about their own "pet projects".

Yesterday, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg made a direct appeal to DUP Leader, Peter Robinson, to urge him not to support the Government's attempt to introduce the 42 day detention - without success.

Mr Brown will now face tough questioning on his reliance on the DUP's support.

Meanwhile, human rights groups are still opposing the extension and said that they would urge the House of Lords to reject the proposal.

A statement released by Amnesty International yesterday said: "No Government Minister should be able to invoke a power which would allow the police to hold people for six weeks without charging them with a criminal offence.

"People who are detained have a right to be charged promptly, or to be released: the law in the UK is moving further and further away from this basic principle and in so doing is increasing the scope for arbitrary detention and other violations of human rights.

"The idea that countering terrorism somehow requires removing or eroding basic guarantees of individual liberty and physical safety is a dangerous and discredited one; the Government should reject it once and for all."

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has said that the proposed 42-day limit would only be used in "exceptional circumstances".

Mr Brown also said in an interview with Andrew Marr on BBC Sunday AM that the central issue was what could be done to prevent breaches of security and how to lessen the terrorist threat. He said it was about: "What we can do - in recognising that we're dealing with a long term security threat - to step up the coordination of our efforts."

In an article in The Times newspaper last week, Mr Brown said that he "is under no illusion" that today's threats are "different in their scale and nature" from anything that has been faced before.

Despite the win, Mr Brown is by no means out of the woods and questions will surely be raised on the narrowness of the victory and on his leadership.

See: Decision On Terror Detention To Be Made Today

(DS)