Impractical and wrong in principle: former MI5 chief's verdict on Brown's 42-day plan

Gordon Brown's plan to detain terror suspects without charge for up to 42 days suffered a big setback yesterday when the former head of MI5 condemned it as unworkable and all but accused Downing Street of playing politics with Britain's national security. In a sign that the government would face a bruising battle with the House of Lords, peers offered warm support as Lady Manningham-Buller tore into the proposal. The proposal is expected to be thrown out when peers vote on it in the autumn. Her remarks came in a lengthy Lords debate in which Lord Falconer, former lord chancellor, criticised the plan as "extremely odd" and Lord Goldsmith, former attorney general, warned it would undermine fundamental British freedoms. Manningham-Buller, director general of MI5 for five years until her retirement last April, said: "On a matter... [read full story]