BBC News: Ex-MI5 chief attacks 42-day plan

From the BBC News website:

The former head of MI5 has dismissed government plans to extend the time terror suspects can be held to 42 days as not "workable".

Baroness Manningham-Buller, who stepped down from the role last year, told peers she disagreed on a "practical basis as well as a principled one".

But the government said terror attacks were a "clear and present danger".

The House of Lords is widely expected to block the plan, which passed through the Commons by just nine votes in June.

The government wants to extend the maximum period a terror suspect can be detained without charge from 28 to 42 days - it says this is needed to deal with increasingly complex plots.

'Ridiculous'

But a rebellion by Labour MPs in the Commons meant the measure was passed there only thanks to DUP MPs' backing.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown's plan looks set to face an even tougher battle in the Lords, where the combined total of Tory and Lib Dem peers outnumber Labour members.

Lady Manningham-Buller, in her maiden speech to the House of Lords, said: "I don't see, on a principled basis, as well as a practical one, that these proposals are in any way workable."

She added that a "broad cross-party consensus" on fighting terror was needed.

Lady Manningham-Buller also said it was essential there was a "balance between the right to life", "the fact that there is no such thing as complete security" and "the importance of our hard-won civil liberties".

She added that "therefore, on principle, I cannot support 42 days' pre-charge detention in this bill".

Lord Goldsmith, who was attorney general when Tony Blair was prime minister, also opposed the plan, saying it risked "giving away the very freedoms that terrorists are trying to take from us".

He told peers: "We don't take away freedoms that people, and our ancestors, have fought for without very good cause..."

Former Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer said he would oppose the plans "root and branch".

He said: "I'm absolutely clear that there's no advantage for fighting terrorism that will be obtained from extending detentions to 42 days."

He added that an extra 14 days available to question suspects and gather evidence would "make no difference" to the police, and that to say so was a "ridiculous assertion".

You can read the rest of this story here. its good to hear that senior lords and former security officials are speaking out against 42-days.

Additionally you can see David Davis campaign website DavidDavisforfreedom.com Who, despite been a...tory! I do support, as he has put his job on the line to campaign on the topic of civil liberties, something that is lacking in the current UK Government.