Tomorrow (11th June) there will be a parliamentary vote on whether to extend the pre-charge detention period for terror suspects from the current 28 days to 42 days. It's going to be a very tight vote as Conservative, Liberel Democrat and approximately 30 rebel Labour MPs have vowed to oppose it.

Personally, when weighing up the issues of public safety and civil liberties, I feel that the introduction of 42 days of pre-charge detention is not needed. Anyone who follows the mainstream media will be aware that there are buzzwords which are guarenteed to get the public interested. It just so happens that terrorism is one of those current buzzwords. I believe that this whole issue is about our failing government doing as much as it can to present a public image that it is dealing sufficiently with the current (debatable) terrorist threat. MI5 (the department responsible for internal security) reveleaed that they have never asked for or required more than 28 days pre-charge detention for a terror suspect, and this is a sentiment echoed by nearly all police chiefs.

What i find most worrying about laws like these is the implication about how these laws can then be amended once they are in place. Terrorism is the current buzzword, and the government are acting as such with these laws. We've all seen what goes on in places such as Guantanamo Bay, where prisoners are held without charge for years on end. How easy would it be to amend the law from 42 to 60 days? From 60 days to 90 days (the number that they originally wanted)? That's three months without being charged. What happened to innocent until proven guilty? The fact of the matter is that if it takes you more than 28 days to find sufficient evidence, maybe you should be reevaluating the guilt of those suspected rather than saying you need more time to dig up the evidence.

I understand that there is a public safety issue here, and that terrorism is extremely serious. The question at hand is whether or not it is justifiable to allow our right to be innocent until proven guilty to be thrown away so easily; for the introduction of a law that the police, MI5, etc, haven't even asked for. Are we doing the right thing and making a justifiable compromise between safety and civil liberties, or are we allowing the civil liberties we have to be erroded as part of a government publicity stunt?

There are situations where I would support the extension: specifically if the security services has requested them. But put quite simply, they haven't, and this is why I do not support extending the pre-charge detention of terror suspects.