42 DAYS.. CRUSHED; Lords throw out terror detention plan.

Byline: BY JASON BEATTIE

JACQUI Smith last night shelved plans to hold terror suspects for 42 days without charge.

The humiliating climbdown came after the Lords voted by 309 to 118 to boot out the hardline proposal.

The scale of the defeat left the Home Secretary with no choice but to give up - for now although she accused opponents of "ignoring the terrorist threat for fear of taking a tough decision".

And in an emergency statement, Ms Smith said the Government would press ahead with the Counter Terrorism Bill, but the plan for 42-day detention will be put on hold with the option of bringing it back via a separate piece of legislation already written.

The House of Commons had voted by nine votes to extend the detention limit from 28 to 42 days, but there is no guarantee MPs would back it if it returned to the Commons.

Steamrolling the Bill through using the Parliament Act was also ruled out given the scale of the defeat in the Lords.

Opposition was led by former Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer who said it would not help against terrorism.

He said: "It's utterly clear we do not need to extend it from 28 days. There isn't any benefit to this, it doesn't help at all." Lord Dear, former chief constable of West Midlands Police, said: "This legislation is fatally flawed.

"Worst of all it seeks to erode the fundamental legal and civil rights that have been the pride of this country for centuries."

It's utterly clear we do not need to extend it from 28 days

LORD FALCONER, LORD CHANCELLOR 2003-2007