Blair seeks new police powers for anti-terrorism
Regional-UK, Politics, 5/28/2007

The British government is proposing a new round of anti-terrorism legislation within the next few weeks, Prime Minister Tony Blair revealed Sunday.

"At the heart of these new proposals will lie the same debate: the balance between protecting the safety of the public and the rights of the individual suspected of being involved with terrorism," Blair said in an article for the Sunday Times.

According to the weekly, the controversial anti-terrorism laws to be pushed through before Blair leaves office next month will give "wartime" powers to the police to stop and question people, similar to what was used during the Northern Ireland conflict.

"Under the new laws, police will not need to suspect that a crime has taken place and can use the power to gain information about 'matters relevant' to terror investigations," it reported.

The newspaper said that if suspects fail to stop or refuse to answer questions, they could be charged with a criminal offense and fined up to 5,000 pounds ($ 10,000).

Although police already have the power to stop and search people under emergency legislation, no general police power to stop and question has ever been introduced in mainland Britain except during wartime.

The proposals were immediately criticized by human rights campaigners as "one of the most significant moves on civil liberties since the second world war." "This looks like political machismo, a legacy moment. Stopping and questioning anyone you like will backfire because people will be being criminalized," said Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti.

Jane Winter, director of British-Irish Rights Watch, told Sunday Times the government was using "a sledgehammer to crack a nut." "This looks like a return to the 'sus' laws, except even then the police needed to have some suspicion," Winter said, referring to the discredited 'suspect' laws used in Northern Ireland giving authority to police officer to stop and search every individual. It has been abolished.

But in his article, Blair condemned those who say "civil liberties come first" before the security of the population. "I believe this is a dangerous misjudgment," he argued.

"This extremism, operating the world over, is not like anything we have faced before. It needs to be confronted with every means at our disposal" he said.

Previous Stories:
  Blair weakened Britain's influence in world, poll finds   (5/21/2007)
  Post-Blair opportunity to change security policy, says professor   (5/7/2007)
  Blair successor urged to pursue independent foreign policy   (4/23/2007)

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