TONY BLAIR secured legislation outlawing the glorification of terrorism last night after accusing the opposition parties of trying to weaken it and after beating off another backbench rebellion.
The passing of the legislation is likely to pave the way for the banning of extremist Muslim groups such as Hizb Ut-Tahrir, an Islamist splinter group that aims to establish a Muslim state across the Middle East under religious law and preaches that Western-style democracy is unacceptable.
The Prime Minister stoked a row with the Conservatives as he emerged apparently unscathed from a week of key Commons divisions. He won a 38-vote majority for the glorification provisions, overturning a House of Lords defeat.
In three days the Government had effectively forced through two of its most controversial pieces of legislation, on identity cards and terrorism, and at last dealt with the vexed issue of smoking in public places.
The Commons, by 315 votes to 277, backed an appeal by the Home Secretary to defeat the Lords. Charles Clarke argued that the way peers had framed the law would not allow police to act against the protesters who last week carried placards calling for the beheading of those responsible for the cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
Only 17 Labour MPs voted against the Government, after a week of cajoling and warnings that disunity could damage re-election chances.
The Tories later shifted position by not opposing moves to extend for a year powers to impose control orders on terrorist suspects whom police say they are unable to prosecute. Patrick Mercer, for the Tories, told the Commons that he accepted that control orders had been used sparingly and that Mr Clarke had taken a close interest in each case. Ministers have further pledged to consolidate anti-terrorism legislation into a single Bill to be published in draft form next year.
Mr Mercer said: “Our lack of opposition to this renewal is based on the fact that we see this as a temporary measure.”
Mr Blair took the gamble of turning terrorism into a party political issue by insisting that opposition parties were trying to dilute anti-terrorist defences.
He took every opportunity at Question Time to say that taking out references to “glorification” in the Terrorism Bill would send out a “massively counterproductive signal”.
Mr Blair said: “People outside will infer that we have decided to dilute our law at the very moment when we should be strengthening it and sending a united signal that we aren’t going to tolerate those who glorify terrorism in our country.”
William Hague, standing in for David Cameron, accused Mr Blair of posturing on the issue when he could have achieved cross-party agreement. The Tory leader later broke into his paternity leave to vote against the “glorification” provision.
The measure, as part of a wider offence of indirectly encouraging terrorism, scraped through the Commons last year, but the Lords replaced it with an offence of describing terrorism in a way that would encourage listeners to emulate it. Mr Clarke said that the Lords proposal was too narrow.
It was alleged last night that the Government was planning to step up ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, a radical group banned in several Middle Eastern countries.
Hedi Ben Youseff Boudhiba, who has alleged links to the attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001, and the ricin plot in London, should be extradited to Spain to face trial, the Court of Appeal ruled yesterday. Boudhiba, 45, has been charged in Spain with membership of al-Qaeda and involvement in the forgery and trafficking of false passports.
