Enlarge imageBy Michael Holden
LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Tony Blair’s sweeping anti-terrorism plans could jeopardise the political consensus forged after deadly London bombings, opposition politicians warned on Saturday.
Blair said on Friday he wanted new powers to expel foreign nationals who incite terrorism, shut down mosques breeding fanaticism and blacklist extremist clerics, Web sites and bookshops.
Critics have said the measures could inflame tensions in the Muslim community, erode human rights and would have done nothing to prevent the suicide attacks on the capital’s transport system.
The proposals are in response to the London bombings on July 7, when four British Muslims killed themselves and 52 others on three underground trains and a bus.
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A second similar attack exactly two weeks later killed nobody as the bombs failed to explode, but caused panic.
Blair has argued his proposals reflect a new mood in the country. He said the "rules of the game" were changing.
However some opposition leaders who had had been working with Blair to secure broad agreement on anti-terrorist proposals said his announcement went further than they anticipated.
"There’s quite a lot that came out yesterday which is the first any of us have heard of some of these initiatives," Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy told BBC Radio.
Michael Howard, leader of the main opposition Conservatives, said his party broadly supported the proposals but comments from ministers suggested some details had not been thought through.
"The government has got to decide what language and what conduct it wants to proscribe," he said.
"You have got to legislate to outlaw certain language. You can’t target legislation at people."
CALL FOR UNITY
Human rights groups and Muslim organisations have expressed concern at the plans.
They were particularly unhappy at plans to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir, a group which advocates the creation of an Islamic caliphate centred on the Middle East and which says it is non-violent.
"Once again we seem to be looking at draconian laws and legislations to provide us with safety and security. They don’t," said Anas Altikriti of the Muslim Association of Britain.
Cabinet minister Lord Falconer agreed that work was needed on details but called for unity.
"I think there is a very widespread sense in the country subsequent to July 7 that things have changed," he told the BBC.
"I think everybody including the Muslim community agrees that we need to take robust strong identifiable steps, well-targeted in their enforcement, that provide the protection that the public are entitled to expect."
London’s police chief Ian Blair has added his backing to the powers but Britain’s newspapers were divided.
Some argued the prime minister’s plans were vital and long overdue but others said they were misguided.
"For years, his government turned a blind eye while Britain became a haven for suspects wanted in their own countries for murder and terrorism. No wonder our capital is dubbed ’Londonistan’," the right-wing Daily Mail commented.
The left-leaning Guardian newspaper countered: "The foremost objection is that these measures would have done nothing to stop the first and most deadly wave of suicide bombing. The first and best test of any legislation remains: will it work?"
