Rebels table amendment to block 42-day detention plans

When I read yesterday that Brown was going to back down on the bill which would allow him to hold terrorist suspects for 42 days rather than 28, I came the nearest I've come in months to giving him a compliment.

However, Gordon wants us all to know that the Guardian were wrong in printing that story and that he fully intends to push ahead with his 42 day plan despite huge backbench anger against it.

Brown and Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, were said to be "displeased" by a report in yesterday's Guardian which said that the prime minister had sanctioned a last-ditch move to secure a deal to avoid a government defeat when MPs vote next month. There was no complaint with the substance of the article, which reported that the compromise would not be over 42 days but over the parliamentary and judicial oversight that would be established.

Downing Street was irritated that some Labour figures were happy for reports to appear which showed the prime minister was prepared to back down. Brown is keen to avoid the impression that he is weakened after he made a U-turn this week to compensate most of the people hit by the abolition of the 10p tax rate.

But the prime minister's spokesman indicated that the prime minister was prepared to reach out to rebels on the judicial and parliamentary oversight element of the bill. "Of course there is a detailed discussion on exactly what precise parliamentary and judicial safeguards are in place in order to enable that," he said.

There is a debate within government over the 42 days. Jack Straw, the justice secretary, is making little secret of his unease about the change which may, he fears, exacerbate the government's relations with British Muslims.

Straw, who has a high proportion of Muslims in his Blackburn constituency, is supported by other figures, such as Sadiq Khan, the government whip and MP for Tooting, who is one of only two Muslim members of the government.

So, Brown will push on, despite the fact that neither he nor the police have ever produced any example where the present 28 day detention has proven insufficient. I really don't understand why Brown feels the need to make his premiership a continuation of the premiership of Blair.

Many of us waited a long time for Brown to return a Labour government rather than this New Labour-Tory Lite shambles, but we'll be waiting a lifetime before he's going to give us that.

The rebels are already stalking the corridors of Westminster:

As Downing Street pledged to press ahead with its counter-terrorism bill, the rebels said they hoped to defeat the government after signing up MPs who voted in favour of Tony Blair's unsuccessful bid to extend to 90 days the period terror suspects could be detained without charge.

David Winnick, one of the main rebels, said: "I believe there is a reasonable chance that the government will be defeated, but I do accept that the government will do everything in its power to try to persuade some of my colleagues to agree on the basis of various concessions."

Brown will do all he can to bully and cajole the rebels into voting with the government and he will be doing so in order to prove that New Labour can be just as right wing as the Tories.

What an utter waste of everyone's time.

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Tags: Gordon Brown, New Labour, 42 day terrorist detention bill, David Winnick