Hain: Danger of 'domestic Guatanamo Bay'

Peter Hain, minister for Northern Ireland and a front-runner for the post of Labour deputy leader, has voiced concern over plans to extend police search-and-question powers.

The proposed legislation, which is similar to that found in Northern Ireland, would give police the power to ask for peoples' identity and movement if they suspect them of terrorism.

But Mr Hain, who campaigned extensively against Apartheid in his youth, warned the plans could lead to discrimination against ethnic minorities.

Speaking on the BBC's Sunday AM programme, Mr Hain said: "We cannot have a reincarnation of the old suss laws under which mostly black people, ethnic minorities, were literally stopped on sight and that created a really bad atmosphere and an erosion of civil liberties."

Mr Hain said that, although detailed proposals had not been put before the Cabinet yet, the government had to be careful not to provoke more terrorism by increasing alienation among young Muslims.

"We've got to be very careful that we don't create circumstances that are the domestic equivalent of Guantanamo Bay. And Guantanamo Bay, which was an international abuse of human rights, acted as a recruiting sergeant for dissidents and alienated Muslims, and alienated many other people across the world," he said.

While Mr Hain stressed that the government may well have to extend stop-and-search powers, he said that "we've got to be very careful in the way we do it".