Clarke to publish Prevention of Terrorism Bill

Tuesday, 22 February 2005 12:00 AM

Home Secretary Charles Clarke is set to publish the highly controversial Prevention of Terrorism Bill later today.

The bill is likely to contain plans to place terrorist suspects under control orders - including house arrest.

Mr Clarke has been in talks with opposition party leaders this week on the bill, but a compromise does not appear to have been reached.

The Government has previously proposed that the Home Secretary should decide whether an individual needs to be subjected to such an order, and the only place for judges is to review such a decision.

Both the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives have been calling for judges to make the decision, not politicians. And, they believe that phone tapped evidence should become admissible in court to increase the possibility of bringing an individual to trial.

But this has been ruled out by the Government, which says that using secretly recorded evidence in court could hamper the workings of the security services and would not materially increase the chances of a conviction.

Though the bill is likely to pass through the House of Commons, the House of Lords is likely to put up significant resistance unless a compromise is reached.

Conservative leader Michael Howard has said that he will study the proposals carefully, but expressed concerns that the Government is rushing through the legislation.

The current anti-terrorism legislation that enables the Government to detain foreign terrorist suspects without charge or trial expires on March 14 and the Government is determined to get new legislation in place by then.

Mr Howard said: "This is vitally important legislation. I do not believe that Britain's best interests will be served by rushing it through Parliament. Everyone agrees that terrorism is a real threat in Britain today. The question is how best to tackle it.

"Conservatives are clear. People accused of terrorist offences should be brought to trial. While they await trial they must be detained in prison. Their innocence or guilt must be determined by a court of law - not by the Home Secretary. If they are found guilty, they must be detained in a prison cell, not their living rooms."

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