The New Nation - Internet Edition

BBC Online

David Cameron accused Gordon Brown of making "so many concessions" in his bid to win the terror detention limit vote the legislation was now "unworkable".

He said the PM's case for extending the limit from 28 to 42 days would be stronger if it had the backing of the police and security services.

Brown accused Cameron of leading "opposition for opposition's sake".

Lib Dem Nick Clegg asked why the PM was "playing politics with our liberties" over a move that was "unnecessary".

The heated exchanges came just hours before a crunch vote at about 1800 BST over extending the terror detention limit to 42 days. No 10 says it looks "very close" and a new compensation deal is being offered for suspects held but then not charged.

"We will always look at the evidence, but on the evidence we have seen to date, I see absolutely no reason not to repeal this"

The Conservatives, Lib Dems and about 30 Labour MPs oppose the 42-day extension.

The result is expected to be so close that it might hinge on how the nine Democratic Unionist Party MPs vote.

To defeat the government, some 33 Labour MPs need to rebel, assuming all other MPs - including those of the DUP - also vote against it.

Opening the Commons debate, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the "reserve power" was necessary to counter a threat that is "more ruthless than we have ever faced before".

The government was "not proposing an automatic or immediate extension to pre-charge detention beyond 28 days", she said. It would only be used with the support of the director of public prosecutions, the backing of Parliament in a vote, with judicial safeguards and only for a temporary period.

She confirmed that suspects held beyond 28 days but then released without charge would be eligible for an "ex gratia" compensation payment.

It was the job of government, the police and prosecutors to protect the public from terrorist attack, but it was the job of Parliament "to give them the tools to do that", she said.

But shadow home secretary David Davis countered that it was the "job of Parliament to defend the liberties we have had for centuries".

He said he feared the 42-day plan would "actually mean more innocent people being put in a cell for six weeks".

Earlier he conceded it was "unlikely" the government would lose the vote in the Commons, but predicted it would be defeated in the Lords.

He said the Conservatives would "almost certainly" reverse it if they were in office.

The prime minister's official spokesman said Brown was in "robust spirits" and holding meetings with MPs on Wednesday in order to "maximise parliamentary support".