Pre-charge detention to revert to 14 days
By Ian Dunt and Alex Stevenson
The limit to pre-charge detention will revert back to 14 days, in a move which will be warmly received by civil liberties advocates.
The announcement came, unusually, as immigration minister Damian Green responded to an urgent question on the reviw of control orders.
Home secretary Theresa May announced a review of the government’s counter-terrorism powers in July last year.
She is set to unveil the review’s conclusions in full next week, but permitted Mr Green to reveal the government’s stance on pre-charge detention for terror suspects early.
Mr Green confirmed that the current 28-day limit, extended by Ms May for six months last July, would expire at midnight next Monday.
The government does not intend to extend it, meaning it would revert to 14 days, he explained.
“We are clear that 14 days should be the norm and that the law should reflect this,” Mr Green said.
But he added that draft emergency legislation would be prepared allowing ministers to extend the maximum period to 28 days “to prepare for the very exceptional circumstances when a longer period may be required”.
No one has been held for longer than 14 days without being charged or released since July 2007.
But Labour had tried to use pre-charge detention as a political tool, Mr Green said.
“No amount of sanctimonious bluster from the Labour party can disguise their shocking record on civil liberties and security,” he added.
Mr Balls responded that the announcement was a “shambolic way to make decisions on matters of national security”.
The shadow home secretary complained that Mr Green had answered his question with an announcement on a separate issue when the immigration minister confirmed plans for reducing pre-charge detention.
He said the counter-terror review process had been a “complete shambles” and said the government was “deeply arrogant” for allowing the 28-day measures to lapse two days before the Commons was updated.
Answers on control orders are now not expected until next Wednesday. The reform of the measure was set to be announced weeks ago but has been perpetually delayed.
Parliamentary observers believe the delay is due to behind the scenes disagreements between Nick Clegg and shadow home secretary Theresa May.
The deputy prime minister told politics.co.uk last week: “We’re very close to making an announcement in the next days and weeks, which I hope will restore a better balance between the need to safeguard public security… [and the need to do so] in a way that is consistent with our long-established principles of fair process, equality before the law and of British justice.
“I think it was wrong of Labour to say that in order to make sure that people are safe we had to somehow sacrifice our liberties. I’ve never agreed with that. I think we can both make sure that people are safe but also make sure we do so in a way that is in line with our very proud traditions of British justice.”
