Brake Perseveres in Terror Bill Marathon

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 16th Mar 2005

The stalemate over the anti-terror legislation saw Carshalton and Wallington MP Tom Brake joining his colleagues in a 30+ hour marathon sitting of the Houses of Parliament. The Liberal Democrats in both Houses of Parliament have led the fight to improve the Government's anti-terrorism legislation.

Commenting on the resolution of the Parliamentary controversy over terrorism, Tom Brake said,

"The Liberal Democrats are not soft on terrorism and we will not allow Labour to legislate in haste and repent at leisure."

"This marathon sitting is unusual, but my constituents have been amazingly supportive. I am proud of the stance the Liberal Democrats have taken and the results we have achieved. It is a drastically improved piece of legislation, which has been due in large part to Liberal Democrat efforts."

On the issue of the "sunset clause", the Liberal Democrats welcome the government's decision to review the legislation on a timetable that closely mirrors our own.

Tom Brake added,

"The Liberal Democrats take the view that this Bill is emergency legislation, making serious changes to our historic legal processes. It has been rushed through Parliament without consultation or adequate deliberation. We should be clear that this is temporary legislation which will need to be replaced. This is a sunset clause in all but name.

The final Bill is not perfect but it is a much better Bill than the one the Government started with. No bill in living memory has been more successfully altered."

The parliamentary standoff means that Tom Brake had to send his apologies for three constituency events (a Fairtrade breakfast, a visit to Good Shepherd pre-school and a meeting with community nurses) scheduled for Friday 11 March.