Voting Against 42 Day Detention Without Charge

2.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 11th Jun 2008

Today in Parliament we will debate the Government's proposals to extend the current detention limit without trial to 42 days. I am determined to vote against this for the following reasons.

Firstly, as a matter of principle, it is not right for a country to imprison its citizens without trial for a month and a half. The UK already has the longest period of pre-charge detention in the western world - 28 days - which compares with 2 days in the USA, 5 days in Russia and 6 days in France.

Secondly, I see no clear evidence that this type of legislation is necessary. If someone is such a danger to national security that they need locking up, one would hope our police and security forces would have enough evidence within the current guidelines of one month. At any rate, under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004), the Government can temporarily extend pre-charge detention in a genuine emergency, subject to judicial and Parliamentary oversight.

Finally, Gordon Brown and the Labour Government have totally lost focus on the core issue, and have allowed this debate to become a measure of Gordon Brown's leadership. This is far too important a debate to be hijacked by a popularity contest. Whatever happens in the Commons, I trust that the House of Lords will have the sense to block it, and I am sure that some Labour MPs are fully aware of this, hence will try to ride two horses by supporting it in the Commons.

Votes are expected around 6pm tonight.