LONDON CITY

> http://politics.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,2198958,00.html
>
> Gordon Brown today attempted to reaffirm the governments commitment to
> civil liberties in the face of criticism over its anti-terrorism
> legislation.
>
> In a speech at the University of Westminster, the prime minister
> announced a wide range of measures, including publication of the
> national security strategy, making the Intelligence and Security
> Committee (ISC) more open, and a review of the law forbidding protests
> outside the House of Commons.
>
> To claim that we should ignore the claims of liberty when faced with
> the needs of security would be to embark down an authoritarian path that
> I believe would be unacceptable to the British people, he said.
>
> The restriction of the right to protest and the extension of the
> detention period for people suspected of terrorism offences have
> prompted allegations that the government is eroding civil liberties.
>
> In a wide-ranging speech, which covered the history of British liberty,
> Mr Brown referred to the likes of John Milton, Winston Churchill, George
> Orwell and Voltaire and said that public dialogue in recent years had
> undervalued the importance of liberty.
>
> He said that parliament would be given a clear role in the appointment
> of members to the ISC, which contributed to the dossier that claimed
> Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. And he confirmed that he would
> seek to remove the power of the executive to declare war.
>
> Mr Brown qualified his libertarian stance by warning that individual
> freedoms were not the only priority for government, and said that the
> test was how it made hard choices.
>
> [The] very freedoms we have built up over generations are the freedoms
> terrorists most want to destroy, he said.
>
> But the prime minister added: By insisting that liberty is and remains
> at the centre of our constitution, we rightly raise the bar we have to
> meet when it comes to measures to protect the security of individuals
> and communities against the terrorist threat.
>
> The prime minister recognised concerns about extending the detention
> period for terrorism suspects, insisting that he was in no doubt about
> the desirability of a debate on the matter.
>
> But he said that the police and others have warned that in the future
> 28 days may not be enough.
>
> He attempted to ward off criticism of any further extension by promising
> greater protections for the individual through scrutiny by the
> judiciary and/or parliament.
>
> Any necessary steps we take to enforce security must always be
> accompanied by the strongest of safeguards to ensure there is scrutiny,
> accountability and transparency in the decisions that are made and that
> at all times we preserve the primacy of independent courts and
> strengthen accountability to parliament, he said.
>
> Among the other measures announced by Mr Brown were plans to extend the
> Freedom of Information Act, remove barriers to investigative journalism
> and consult on a written constitution.
>
> He further said that there would be a review of at least 250
> provisions granting power to enter homes and premises without
> permission.