90 days? That's nothing...just ask Jose Padilla.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4422086.stm
Tony Blair says his authority is intact despite suffering his first House of Commons defeat as prime minister.
He said he hoped MPs "do not rue the day" they rejected his call to allow police to detain terror suspects for up to 90 days without charging them.
MPs voted against by 322 votes to 291, with 49 Labour MPs rebelling.
Tory leader Michael Howard said Mr Blair should resign. Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy warned Mr Blair could become a "lame duck" leader.
Following the defeat MPs backed by 323 to 290 votes a Labour backbench MP's proposal to extend the detention time limit to 28 days, from the current 14 days.
Authority
The defeat does not mean Mr Blair, who is already planning to stand down before the next election, will have to stand down as prime minister now.
BBC political editor Nick Robinson said that although Mr Blair would keep fighting, there would be questions about his authority.
For the Conservatives, Mr Howard said the vote had "so diminished" Mr Blair's authority that he should quit.
And Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy said Mr Blair would be seen as a "lame duck" leader unless he realised he could not behave in a "quasi-dictatorial way".
"If he doesn't, then increasingly his premiership is becoming a John Major premiership, at the mercy of events, at the mercy of opposition, not just from other political parties but from within his own," said Mr Kennedy.
'Disappointed'
But the prime minister's official spokesman said: "We don't see this as a matter of confidence in the prime minister as it was a proposal put forward by the police and which we supported."
Mr Blair was disappointed by the result, said the spokesman, but had thought it was right to risk losing a vote rather than not have a vote at all.
"The police and public supported what the government was trying to do...," he said.
"Parliament reached a different decision which has to be respected but the debate will continue."
Downing Street says the decision is not in the interests of the country - Mr Blair always said anything less than the 90-day plan would be "second best" for the nation's security.
'No police state'
The Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and some Labour backbenchers said the 90-day plans went too far.
Civil liberties groups compared the proposal to internment - a charge rejected by ministers.
In his final plea for MPs to back the plans, Mr Blair urged MPs to take the advice of the police who had foiled two terrorist plots since the 7 July attacks in London.
In heated exchanges at prime minister's questions, Mr Blair said: "We are not living in a police state but we are living in a country that faces a real and serious threat of terrorism."
The prime minister admitted he could lose the vote and said it was a test of leadership for himself and all MPs.
Shuttle diplomacy?
Ministers tried to reassure waverers by promising that the new laws would expire unless MPs renewed them in a year's time.
Other concessions included promising scrutiny of the detention process by a High Court judge.
In a sign of the importance given to the vote, Chancellor Gordon Brown was called back within minutes of arriving in Israel for a high profile visit.
And Foreign Secretary Jack Straw also flew back early from EU-Russia talks in Moscow.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4422086.stm
Tony Blair says his authority is intact despite suffering his first House of Commons defeat as prime minister.
He said he hoped MPs "do not rue the day" they rejected his call to allow police to detain terror suspects for up to 90 days without charging them.
MPs voted against by 322 votes to 291, with 49 Labour MPs rebelling.
Tory leader Michael Howard said Mr Blair should resign. Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy warned Mr Blair could become a "lame duck" leader.
Following the defeat MPs backed by 323 to 290 votes a Labour backbench MP's proposal to extend the detention time limit to 28 days, from the current 14 days.
Authority
The defeat does not mean Mr Blair, who is already planning to stand down before the next election, will have to stand down as prime minister now.
BBC political editor Nick Robinson said that although Mr Blair would keep fighting, there would be questions about his authority.
For the Conservatives, Mr Howard said the vote had "so diminished" Mr Blair's authority that he should quit.
And Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy said Mr Blair would be seen as a "lame duck" leader unless he realised he could not behave in a "quasi-dictatorial way".
"If he doesn't, then increasingly his premiership is becoming a John Major premiership, at the mercy of events, at the mercy of opposition, not just from other political parties but from within his own," said Mr Kennedy.
'Disappointed'
But the prime minister's official spokesman said: "We don't see this as a matter of confidence in the prime minister as it was a proposal put forward by the police and which we supported."
Mr Blair was disappointed by the result, said the spokesman, but had thought it was right to risk losing a vote rather than not have a vote at all.
"The police and public supported what the government was trying to do...," he said.
"Parliament reached a different decision which has to be respected but the debate will continue."
Downing Street says the decision is not in the interests of the country - Mr Blair always said anything less than the 90-day plan would be "second best" for the nation's security.
'No police state'
The Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and some Labour backbenchers said the 90-day plans went too far.
Civil liberties groups compared the proposal to internment - a charge rejected by ministers.
In his final plea for MPs to back the plans, Mr Blair urged MPs to take the advice of the police who had foiled two terrorist plots since the 7 July attacks in London.
In heated exchanges at prime minister's questions, Mr Blair said: "We are not living in a police state but we are living in a country that faces a real and serious threat of terrorism."
The prime minister admitted he could lose the vote and said it was a test of leadership for himself and all MPs.
Shuttle diplomacy?
Ministers tried to reassure waverers by promising that the new laws would expire unless MPs renewed them in a year's time.
Other concessions included promising scrutiny of the detention process by a High Court judge.
In a sign of the importance given to the vote, Chancellor Gordon Brown was called back within minutes of arriving in Israel for a high profile visit.
And Foreign Secretary Jack Straw also flew back early from EU-Russia talks in Moscow.