British lawmakers vote for 28-day detention rule for terror bill

British Prime Minister Tony Blair lost on Wednesday a crucial vote in Parliament on introducing a 90- day detention rule for terror suspects without charge.

The members of parliaments voted instead for a 28-day detention rule at 323 to 290 votes, despite the final rallying efforts on the part of Blair by calling back Chancellor Gordon Brown within minutes of arriving in Israel for a high profile visit, and the flying back of Foreign Secretary Jack Straw early from EU-Russia talks in Moscow, Sky TV reported on Wednesday afternoon.

This is the first time Tony Blair's Labor government has ever lost a vote in the Commons. MPs voted 291 for the amendment and 322 against - a majority of 31 against the government. Unconfirmed reports say that 41 Labor rebels voted against Blair's plans, marking a major rebellion from his own Labor quarter.

Earlier on Wednesday, Blair made a direct appeal for MPs to back the government over the 90-day detention clause, which was proposed at part of the major amendment for the Terror Bill in the wake of the terrorist bombings in London in July.

He said he believed it was his duty to support the police, adding it was the "duty of every member of this house" to do so for the sake of "national security".

Many MPs see the voting results as a victory for the civil liberties and a loss of trust for Blair and a major blow to his authority in the Parliament ever since he brought his country to the war in Iraq in 2003.

Source: Xinhua