Reid unveils new terrorism measures

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Home Secretary John Reid said he planned to introduce a new counter terrorism Bill later this year.

But instead of fast-tracking the legislation through Parliament he planned to hold cross-party talks and discussions with police and civil liberty groups before moving ahead.

In a statement to MPs, Mr Reid indicated the plans included:

Extending the detention limits for terror suspects beyond 28 days; allowing terrorist suspects to be questioned after charge; introducing a sex offenders-style register to keep track of convicted terrorists; tougher sentences for those found guilty of terror offences; holding a review of the possible use of intercept evidence.

"I believe that terrorism remains the greatest threat to life and liberty that this country faces," he said.

Mr Reid said the statement was the start of a consultation process and insisted: "This is a more comprehensively consensual approach than we have ever used before."

He said the talks would include how to extend pre-charge detention limits for terror suspects.

One way might be to legislate for an extension with further judicial or Parliamentary oversight.

He indicated that control orders, while still not the "best option", could be changed to include other measures on fingerprinting and new powers of entry.