Britain plans to push through new tougher anti-terrorism laws, giving 'war-time' powers to the police to stop and question people, before Blair leaves office.
LONDON: Britain plans to push through new tougher anti-terrorism laws, giving "war-time" powers to the police to stop and question people, before Prime Minister Tony Blair leaves office in a month.
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.
John Reid, the Home Secretary, who is also quitting next month, intends to extend Northern Ireland's draconian police powers to interrogate individuals about who they are, where they have been and where they are going.
If suspects fail to stop or refuse to answer questions, they could be charged with a criminal offence and fined up to 5,000 pounds, media reported on Sunday.
Police already have the power to stop and search people but they have no right to ask for their identity and movements.
No general police power to stop and question has ever been introduced in mainland Britain except during wartime.
Ironically, the power is soon to be repealed in Northern Ireland as part of the peace agreement.
The disclosure coincides with a rare attack by Blair on Britain's judges for "emasculating" his anti-terrorism legislation.
In an article for The Sunday Times, the prime minister condemned those who say "civil liberties come first" before the security of the population. "I believe this is a dangerous misjudgment," he wrote.
The prime minister's article, and the new terrorism powers, come after it was revealed that three terror suspects who were subject to control orders have absconded, triggering an uproar.
Blair also took a tilt at critics of military action in Iraq and Afghanistan, claiming that "pandering" to a "sense of grievance" among Muslims "will only encourage it".
Reid is planning to push through a counter-terrorism bill next month before he and Blair leave office.
"As well as the power to stop and question individuals, the home secretary also wants to introduce two new police powers in the name of combating Islamic terrorism: the power to take documents away for examination even if their value as evidence is not immediately obvious; and the power to remove vehicles in order to examine them," the report said.
Civil liberties campaigners have branded the proposed measures "one of the most significant moves against civil liberties since the second world war".
Home Office officials admitted, however, that the final wording of the new power to stop and question in the rest of the UK might have to include a requirement for reasonable suspicion.
Tony McNulty, the minister for counter-terrorism, outlined the plans on Reid's behalf in a letter to the prime minister last week.
"I believe that these powers will be very useful UK-wide," he wrote.
The Minister claimed the new law will be "less intrusive" that the one which allows for stop and search, which critics allege has been over-used.
"Arguably one of the weaknesses of (stop and search) is that although it enables a search of an individual, it does not enable a police officer to ask that individual who they are or where they are going.
"Therefore a less intrusive power of stop and question that could be used by the police in the first instance would be useful. The effect of this power should therefore be to reduce the number of times stop and search is used," McNulty said.
Shami Chakrabarti, director of the civil rights group Liberty, said "the police should not have powers to run around questioning people willy-nilly, otherwise people feel hunted.
"This looks like political machismo, a legacy moment. Stopping and questioning anyone you like will backfire."
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