Prime Minister Tony Blair wanted the police to detain suspected terrorists for 90 days instead of the 14 currently allowed under the law.

Prime Minister Tony Blair wanted the police to detain suspected terrorists for 90 days instead of the 14 currently allowed under the law. Warned that his Labour Party might revolt, he nonetheless refused all compromises on offer. On libertarian grounds, the Conservatives voted against him, and so did 49 of his own MPs, and he had to make do with 28 days instead of 90. He has had previous close shaves, but this was his first defeat in parliament. At the same time, Christopher Meyer, the former British ambassador in Washington, has published a memoir most unflattering to Blair and several members of his cabinet. The burden of his charge is that Blair conceived a schoolboy's hero-worship for President Bush. As a result, he never exercised the leverage he had over Bush, and to that extent neglected the national interest. In British practice, civil servants do not traduce their political masters, and this breach of confidentiality is a true scandal. Blair has already promised to step down some time before the next election. The noise to be heard throughout Westminster is the beating of the wings of the vultures hovering expectantly over him.