New anti-terror laws due by September
A bill incorporating new anti-terror laws will be ready by the end of the summer following discussions between the prime minister and opposition leaders.
Tony Blair met with Conservative leader Michael Howard and Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy this morning for further talks on how to respond to the London bombings.
Mr Howard and Mr Kennedy had already pledged their support in principle for the proposed new offences of acts preparatory to terrorism, of giving or receiving terrorist training and of indirect incitement to terrorism.
And while they have yet to see the details of the proposed legislation, both leaders were today keen to stress that this spirit of consensus would remain.
“We have said we’ll have to scrutinise any proposals that come forward with great care, but we will do it in a spirit of consensus, in the hope that we can reach agreement,” Mr Howard told reporters after this morning’s meeting.
Mr Kennedy added that “reasonable progress” had been made, saying: “What I want to stress is that we’re all anxious to get as much constructive agreement as we can achieve – this is our prime priority.”
Even on an issue that both Mr Kennedy and Mr Howard were expected to oppose – that of extending the time terror suspects can be held for questioning – there remained an element of consensus.
Although both leaders expressed reservations about plans put by police officers last week to extend the detention period from 14 days to three months, neither condemned the idea entirely.
“We see very considerable difficulty in [the extension] – three months is a long time to hold someone without charge and possibly just release them after that,” Mr Howard said.
But he added: “It’s being looked at by the prime minister and in due course they will come forward with their proposals.”
Mr Kennedy was similarly diplomatic, saying that while the Liberal Democrats had “reservations” about extending the detention period to three months, they were not entirely adverse to prolonging the current two-week period.
“When it comes to questioning, in two weeks [the security services] might not be able to make an awful lot of progress. Give us more information and then we can make a rational political decision,” he said.
Another issue under discussion today was whether intercept evidence should be made admissible in court. Both opposition leaders believe it should be, but the government has so far rejected such a move on the basis of reservations from the security services.
Today Mr Howard and shadow home secretary David Davis put to the government a detailed scheme addressing a number of the concerns about allowing wire tap evidence, which the Tory leader said was being looked at by the prime minister.
Concluding, Mr Kennedy said it was impossible to guarantee people’s safety 100 per cent, but it was important to have “as many conceivable safeguards as you can”.
