Brown sets out vision for new bill of rights as Tories attack 'authoritarian' PM

In a wide-ranging speech, the Prime Minister said he wanted to write a 'new chapter in our country's story of liberty' and outlined far-reaching proposals for a British Bill of Rights and Duties and a possible written constitution.

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He vowed to scale back powers granted 'piecemeal' for a vast range of public authorities to enter homes and premises for at least 250 different reasons - and unveiled a shake-up in Britain's secrecy and data protection laws.

However, Mr Brown said that personal liberty must be balanced against the security demands of the broader society and hinted that he would favour an extension of the time police are allowed to hold people without charge from 28 to 56 days.

Opposition MPs dismissed the libertarian pledges as worthless from the most authoritarian government in recent history - and said they were a smokescreen to obscure moves that would actually undermine liberty.

They pointed out that he is pressing ahead with plans for ID cards and extending detention without trial beyond 28 days.

Mr Brown's speech to human rights group Liberty was apparently crafted to counter claims that he lacks a 'vision' for Britain.

He said he wanted to lead a government that 'belongs to the people, not the politicians'.

He said the Government wanted to 'safeguard privacy in the home' and suggested people subjected to any 'disproportionate' use of powers by the state should have greater right to redress.

He announced a review of protest laws introduced by Tony Blair in Parliament Square to ensure the 'right to protest outside the very heart of our democracy - the House of Commons'.

He also signalled some important new protections for Press freedom.

He is to scrap Government proposals to limit access to official records under the Freedom of Information Act, will review the so-called 30-year rule restricting the release of government papers, and has dumped plans to keep the Press from reporting coroners' courts.

A three-month public consultation is being launched on extending the scope of the Freedom of Information Act, which allows the public to request confidential information from public bodies.

It could be extended to cover private firms doing work in the public sector, and plans to impose more charges for requests for information are to be ditched.

Victims should be able to sue criminals that profit from writing about their exploits, Mr Brown said.

And for the first time, the Government is to publish an annual security strategy setting out the threats faced by Britain and the methods for countering them.

Consultation documents will be published on a range of other proposals.

They include a right for MPs to vote on any treaty entered into by the Government and a confirmatory role for the Commons in the appointment of senior judges.

Mr Brown said that while there was a 'continuing debate' about ID cards, the advances in 'biometric' identification they offered could help protect against crime, fraud, illegal immigration and terrorism.

Shami Chakrabarti, director of civil rights group Liberty, said: 'After so many years of relentless political attacks on liberty, it is brave for any Prime Minister to give a speech in its name.

'However, this does not sit well with detention without charge and compulsory identity cards.'

Tory justice spokesman Nick Herbert said: 'This Government blindly refuses to address the problems of its Human Rights Act which has failed to protect key liberties-such as jury trial and the privacy-of our homes while hampering our ability to deal with terrorists.

'We have argued that the Act should be replaced with a British Bill of Rights and Responsibilities to achieve the proper balance.'

Lib Dem justice spokesman David Heath said: 'One of the main threats to civil liberties over the last decade has been an increasingly overbearing Labour Government that has transformed Britain into a surveillance state.'