Blair defends anti-terror bill
2005-02-24 07:28
London - British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Thursday defended a controversial draft anti-terrorism bill saying he "rejected completely" that it was an attack on individual liberties.
"I reject completely the allegation that this is a fundamental attack on longstanding civil liberties," Blair wrote in an opinion piece in The Daily Telegraph.
"We have to balance protection for the public from terrorism with safeguarding civil liberties. But there is no greater civil liberty than to live free from terrorist attack," he wrote.
The government triggered a storm of protest on Tuesday when it introduced the bill, which would grant the home secretary (interior minister) broad powers to restrict the movements and actions of foreign and British terrorist suspects.
Opposition parties and rights groups have argued that it gives too much power to the minister, who would have the ability to do everything from ban internet use to, potentially, order indefinite house arrests.
Suspects who come under the so-called control orders of the minister would have the right to appeal to a judge.
Blair also argued for the measure in the lower house of parliament, the House of Commons, on Wednesday, where it is currently under debate.
"I think these people (terrorists) will kill thousands of our citizens if they could. I think this is terrorism without limit," Blair told parliament.
'Bloodlust and brutality'
He and home secretary Charles Clarke made comparisons to the September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001, and the March 11 bombing in Madrid last year, warning that such terror awaited Britain if it did not protect itself with strong laws.
In his written remarks in the Telegraph, Blair reiterated that Britain now faced a "new breed of terrorists" unrivalled in bloodlust and brutality.
"Their war is not with governments or armed forces, but with our way of life," he said.
His government has angered some members of parliament by giving the house of commons only several days to debate the bill, which is meant to replace a hard-line law declared unlawful by Britain's highest court.
The Law Lords ruled on December 16 that the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, which allowed for the indefinite detention of foreign terror suspects without trial, violated Britain's human rights laws.
Failure to pass the new Prevention of Terrorism Bill under debate would potentially leave Britain without any hard-hitting anti-terrorism rules, since the 2001 law expires on March 14.
- AFP