Brown to bring in tougher checks on foreign NHS staff

His first Prime Minister's Questions was dominated by the terror threat and he used the occasion to announce measures to prevent "sleeper cells" from entering Britain.

Security Minister Lord West will review the National Health Service to see how workers from abroad are vetted.

It has emerged that most of the suspects arrested since Friday had been linked to the NHS.

Foreigners applying for work permits are checked against the Government's index of foreign suspects, called the Watch List. The PM said this would now include those identified by other countries as potential terrorists.

And he vowed to press ahead with plans to vet sponsors who sign the applications of foreigners seeking work permits.

His first outing against David Cameron failed to produce the fireworks many predicted and left some of his MPs worried that he was hesitant and unprepared.

He surprised MPs by using PMQs to make policy announcements on terror, reinforcing his claim that he wants to make Parliament where Government decisions are unveiled first.

Mr Brown got a taste of the unpredictable variety of questions and the relentless pace Prime Ministers face each week.

He looked uneasy after the best joke was made by Sir Menzies Campbell. When the PM told him, "My door is always open to you," Sir Menzies said: "Your door is more of a trapdoor."

MPs teased him when he tried to make a joke about only having been Prime Minister for five days, pointing out that he had been in the post for seven.

But he won credit from his side for setting aside traditional political knockabout in favour of a far more consensual tone.

Mr Brown called for national unity in the face of terrorism, adding: "It is vitally important that the message is sent out to the rest of the world that we will stand strong, steadfast and united in the face of terror."

He vowed to press ahead with a Privy Council inquiry to look into the possible use of telephone tapping evidence in terrorism cases.

Mr Brown refused to act immediately on Mr Cameron's call for a ban on Muslim political party Hizb ut-Tahrir, which the Tory leader claimed calls for Jews to be killed.

The Conservative leader said the Government had promised to make the group illegal two years ago. But Mr Brown said that the Government needed proper grounds.

"Evidence can't be a few quotes," he said.

Mr Brown urged Mr Cameron to drop opposition to ID cards as they were essential for security.

But Mr Cameron said: "ID cards did not stop the Madrid bombings. After the July 7 bombings the then Home Secretary said they wouldn't have helped in the UK, they wouldn't come in for years and they'd cost billions - money that should be spent on a border police."