Britain:Britain's anti-terror plan will impact on Ireland due to the common travel area, writes Frank Millar, London Editor
Prime minister Gordon Brown's latest attempt to reassure Britons by way of his government's evolving security strategy to protect them from international terrorists met with apprehension and dismay in some quarters yesterday.
Apart from questions of reality and practicality - women in mosques and airport-type security in major rail stations - Mr Brown's detailed statement also fuelled underlying concerns as to whether he and his ministers are getting the balance right. There was some curiosity, too, as to why he made the statement to MPs on Wednesday rather than home secretary Jacqui Smith. Writing in the London Times Peter Riddell also wondered if this was another example of "super swot" Brown trying to do too much, noting no less than 50 initiatives, reviews and advisory groups in the latest action plan.
Might quantity be the enemy of effectiveness? "Fortress Britain" groaned the Daily Telegraph headline in response to the promise of yet more bag checks and body searches, security barriers and bollards, blast-resistant buildings and vehicle-exclusion zones to protect airports, stations, shopping centres and sporting and entertainment venues.
An accompanying editorial, meanwhile, asked: "Do we really want to turn the country into a simulacrum of Belfast in the 1970s and 1980s, all barriers, turnstiles and searches, with free movement all but impossible? Won't the terrorists have won?"
While welcoming fresh momentum behind Mr Brown's "hearts and minds" campaign aimed at young Muslims - and acknowledging the certain reaction if failure to take sensible precautions allowed a terrorist attack to succeed - the paper contended that terrorism was best met short-term through good intelligence and public vigilance. It also warned that Mr Brown's anti-extremist initiative would not be helped by his "illiberal" plan to double the 28-day period for detaining terror suspects without charge.
The Government again insisted that no decision has been taken on the issue, while proposing a fresh round of cross-party talks to seek a consensus view.
However, opposition parties seized on a report by the BBC's political editor saying ministers hope to shift the debate from the number of days and on to the criteria - accountability to parliament, judicial oversight and so on - for the use of a power they insist will only be used in rare circumstances.
The Conservatives and human rights group Liberty maintain the government already has the necessary power in the civil contingencies act, which would enable ministers to suspend the rules by declaring a temporary state of emergency.
However, shadow home secretary David Davis said there was no evidence "as it stands" to move beyond 28 days, declaring: "What the government is looking for is an undeclared, permanent state of emergency."
This political battle - in which some Tories fear they risk being outflanked by Labour and portrayed as "soft on terrorists" - is set to run, and run; as is, in the government's and MI5's view, a generation-long battle against terror is now driving the creation of electronic borders. This will require travellers to yield upwards of 50 pieces of information when entering or leaving Britain.
Although, will that be the United Kingdom? Leader of the House of Lords Baroness Ashton told Ulster Unionist peer Lord Kilclooney she would write to him, so as to ensure she set out the position properly, when he asked her on Wednesday night whether the new UK border agency "would operate throughout the whole of Great Britain or throughout the whole of the United Kingdom"? However, she appeared more certain when Lord Trimble asked if the latest security measures would apply to all the people of the UK. "Indeed, my Lords," she replied.
In which context there will be particular Irish interest in a paper released by the cabinet office also on Wednesday entitled "Security in a Global Hub".
Referring to the common travel area (CTA) between the UK and the Republic, the paper states: "The unique nature of the Common Travel Area requires particular attention to manage the special circumstances associated with free movement within this area. This is currently being addressed by the Border and Immigration Agency through the development of a comprehensive strategy for the CTA, working in partnership with the Irish Government. This work should be built into the overarching strategy of the new organisation."