Britain’s House of Lords is due to vote today on government plans to allow police to detain terrorism suspects for up to six weeks without charge, amid expectations the proposals will be defeated.
High profile figures and peers including former intelligence chief Eliza Manningham-Buller and former Attorney General Lord Goldsmith have criticised the proposal to extend the maximum period of detention from 28 to 42 days.
Opponents say the bill is draconian, an affront to civil liberties and unnecessary. With both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats set to vote against the plans, commentators predict the government will lose.
Defeat in the Lords will not kill the legislation outright but will delay the bill's passage and embarrass Gordon Brown.
Under the proposals, both houses of parliament would have to vote on any decision by the Home Secretary to allow police to detain suspects for up to 42 days in the face of an "exceptional terrorist threat".
In August, the cross-party House of Lords Constitution Committee described the plans as ill-advised and a "recipe for confusion" that could jeopardise trials.
Lord Dear, an independent peer and former Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, has put forward an amendment opposing plans for the extension, calling it a political device to "try and appear tough on terrorism".
"If you go to 42 days ... you give a gift to those who recruit terrorists saying this is yet another example of a repressive regime," he told BBC radio.
"And secondly, and perhaps most important of all, you erode our fundamental and legal rights that have stood here for over 700 years."
Government supporters say the measure would not be used regularly and is required because of the increasing complexity of investigating terrorism cases with worldwide dimensions.
"We want to be in a position where the public is safeguarded," said Lord Harris, a Labour peer and former chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority.
In June, the House of Commons narrowly approved 42 days but the government's majority was slashed to just nine after a revolt by 36 backbench Labour MPs.
Ministers needed the support of the Democratic Unionists to get the bill passed despite offering concessions to Labour rebels.
Reuters