UK:BRITISH PRIME minister Gordon Brown has placed his authority on the line ahead of next week's Commons vote on plans to let police detain terror suspects in exceptional circumstances for 42 days without charge.
As MPs returned to Westminster for the first time since Labour's defeat in the Crewe and Nantwich byelection, Mr Brown defied potential Labour rebels with an invitation to back him or defeat him.
Defeat would be seen as another serious blow to Mr Brown's authority and would encourage further speculation about a challenge to his leadership if there is no evidence of a revival in the party's fortunes by the September conference season.
But having "tried to build consensus" around the Counter-Terrorism Bill, a defiant Mr Brown said he was determined the government would stick to its principles.
Home secretary Jacqui Smith addressed Labour MPs last night as part of the government's ongoing campaign to explain concessions already made in respect of judicial and parliamentary oversight of the power to move beyond 28 days in certain specific and "truly exceptional" circumstances.
As the effort continued to reduce the threat of a Labour rebellion, the DUP signalled a potential lifeline for Mr Brown when deputy leader Nigel Dodds said the party's nine MPs would decide the issue in "the national interest" rather than on the basis of local deals.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's The World at One programme, Mr Dodds acknowledged that the British government and Northern Ireland Executive were already in discussion about issues such as the proceeds from the sale of ministry of defence bases in the North.
However, Mr Dodds said this was "not an issue" that would determine the party's attitude to 42-day detention. The DUP had voted against Tony Blair's "draconian" proposal for 90-day detention two years ago, said Mr Dodds, but was still "open to persuasion" and determined to act "in the best interests of the nation".
The government was also boosted by an intervention by Lord Carlile, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, who backed Mr Brown in his insistence that the growing complexity of terrorist cases meant police at some future point would need more than 28 days to question suspects.
Mr Brown yesterday cited a 2004 case involving al-Qaeda member Dhiren Barot, where police seized 270 computers, 2,000 discs and more than 8,000 other items.
Justice secretary Jack Straw, meanwhile, will today accuse the Conservatives of being "unprincipled" and "inconsistent" on the terror issue, while warning Labour rebels they are playing into Tory leader David Cameron's hands.