Brown steers away from anti-terror Bill

London: Gordon Brown on Monday began an embarrassing retreat on his plan to hold terrorist suspects for up to 42 days without charge.

The flagship anti-terrorism legislation will be allowed to die when, as expected, it is defeated in the Lords, government sources indicated.

It means that months of parliamentary debate, a Labour rebellion, a searing row between ministers and the civil liberties lobby plus a curious by-election that cost David Davis his frontbench career may have been for nothing.

Downing Street yesterday insisted that the prime minister remains committed to the 42-day detention proposal. But when asked if he was still prepared to invoke the Parliament Act to steamroll it onto the statute books, the official spokesman refused to "get into hypotheticals".

Uneasy

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, who led the fight to push the 42-day detention plan through the Commons was also said to be uneasy at the thought of having to do so a second time if the Parliament Act was invoked. Chief Whip Nick Brown argued that it could cause a serious split in Labour.

Sources confirmed that Brown now wanted to be seen to be focusing on the economic crisis.