Anti-terror law stalemate continues
The stalemate over anti-terror laws is continuing this morning as the House of Lords refuses to give in to the Government.
MPs and peers sat throughout the night, as the Lords continued to insist on a ‘sunset clause’ that would see the legislation contained within the Prevention of Terrorism Bill expire within 12 months.
Peers are also insisting on a Privy Council committee to review the operation of the law and to raise the burden of proof from “grounds for suspicion” to the “balance of probabilities”.
But each time an amended bill containing these provisions is sent back to the House of Commons, it is rejected by MPs and sent back to the second chamber without them.
The Home Secretary Charles Clarke is urging peers to give way, arguing that the Government has made attempts to end the deadlock.
He accused the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats in the Lords of digging their heels in and preventing the will of the elected House.
The Government has already made concessions including increasing judicial involvement in all control orders, not just the most severe of house arrest, and making the bill subject to an annual review by Parliament.
And on Thursday the Prime Minister Tony Blair made it clear the Government was in no mood to give further ground: “We have made concessions on this legislation – there’s now no reason not to support it.”
“The House of Commons has voted very, very clearly. We need this legislation to protect the security of people in this country and I hope they now change their position and allow the clearly expressed view of the House of Commons to prevail.”
The bill was hurriedly compiled after the Law Lords ruled extant law on the detention without trial of foreign terror suspects was in contravention to the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Government needs to get the law on the statute books before the previous bill expires on Monday
