Anti-terror bill becomes law

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk_politics/newsid_1709000/1709777.stm

New emergency anti-terror legislation has been passed after Home Secretary David Blunkett offered peers a compromise on key issues.

In a major policy u-turn, Mr Blunkett agreed to drop proposals to make incitement to religious hatred a criminal offence.

The Peers passed the bill early Friday morning following the government's concessions.

The bill was passed in the Commons soon afterwards.

Mr Blunkett's move was designed to clear the way for the controversial Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Bill to become law by Christmas, as the home secretary has pledged.

The government stressed there were no plans to introduce a separate bill on religious incitement.

Blunkett 'pleased'

A spokesman for Mr Blunkett said he was "very pleased" and felt that the government had "largely got the bill it wanted".

However he had to offer a series of concessions to make the bill acceptable to opposition parties.

They include:
Limiting the introduction of anti terrorist measures agreed at a European level

Allowing seven "wise people" to review the measures after two years

Limiting police access to electronic data such as e mail and the internet on suspicion of terrorist activity

The Conservatives said the proposed amendments made the bill acceptable.

Hastily conceived

The proposed legislation on incitement to religious hatred has proved to be the most controversial aspect of Mr Blunkett's bill, with opposition parties claiming it was hastily conceived and ill thought-out.

Lady Williams, the Liberal Democrat leader in the Lords, has said she believed the measures "would do more harm than good."

But Lib Dem Home Affairs spokesman Simon Hughes told MPs his party would continue to "fight for the time to legislate properly" on the issue.

He said if the government wanted to legislate on it, it would find the parliamentary time.

But his remarks were dismissed by the home secretary who said it was too late, having successfully defeated a law on incitement to religious hatred, for Mr Hughes to begin speaking out in favour of one.

'Triumphalism'

Mr Blunkett hit out at the "triumphalism" of the opposition parties, and in particular the Lib Dems, who had succeeded in defeating the government on this issue.

"We had a rational debate on it, the government have conceded that we have lost on it, the House of Lords have voted twice substantially against it - but it isn't a matter for anyone to rejoice in."

Mr Blunkett praised the "sensible" attitude of shadow home affairs secretary Oliver Letwin, in helping to reach a compromise on the bill.

Mr Letwin said debating the bill had been an arduous process which had "proved the value of parliamentary process and parliamentary checks."

He said Mr Blunkett had ended up with a better bill as a result.