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Blair defeated on Terror Bill
By Press Association
11/09/05 "PA"
-- -- MPs delivered a massive snub to Prime Minister
Tony Blair, rejecting his proposals for police to be allowed to hold
terror suspects for 90 days and voting instead for a much shorter
28-day period.
The rebuff on the 90-day proposal in the Terrorism Bill by a margin
of 31 votes was the Government's first defeat in the House of
Commons since Labour came to power in 1997.
Mr Blair had left absolutely no doubt of his personal commitment to
90-day detention, and its rejection by 322-291 is a significant blow
to his authority, which some believe may bring forward his departure
as Labour leader.
In dramatic scenes at the House of Commons, after rejecting the
Prime Minister's preferred option, MPs delivered a second blow by
backing a proposal for a 28-day maximum detention period by 323-290,
a majority of 33.
A tense-looking Mr Blair was in the chamber to hear the result of
the vote, shaking his head as the numbers were revealed.
The scale of the defeat was a shock for Government Whips with a
reported 41 Labour MPs joining Liberal Democrats, nationalists and
most Tories to overturn Mr Blair's 66-strong majority.
Following the vote, Scottish Nationalist Party leader Alex Salmond
said: "The Prime Minister has just fallen off the high wire."
During stormy exchanges at Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Blair
urged MPs of all parties to be "responsible" in backing the measures
put forward by police.
He told them: "We are not living in a police state, but we are
living in a country that faces a real and serious threat of
terrorism - terrorism that wants to destroy our way of life,
terrorism that wants to inflict casualties on us without limit.
"When those charged with protecting our country provide, as they
have, a compelling case for action, I know what my duty is. My duty
is to support them, and so is the duty - in my view - of every
member of this House."
© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2005, All Rights Reserved.
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