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Blair says new terror laws vital New laws to stop people "glorifying" terrorism are vital to defend the UK against people like jailed cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, Tony Blair has said. Peers voted to remove the glorification offence from the Terrorism Bill. MPs are debating whether to reinstate it. Not doing so would send the wrong signal on the UK's determination to deal with terrorists, said Mr Blair, calling the Tory stance "incredible". But Tory William Hague accused him of "ineffective authoritarianism". The Conservatives say existing laws - and plans for a new offence to prevent indirect encouragement of terrorism - mean the glorification offence is not needed. The Lib Dems also oppose the legislation, with acting leader Sir Menzies Campbell saying it would be better to allow phone-tap evidence to be used in courts. 'Ambiguous' Bringing more suspects to trial was more effective than introducing "ambiguous and controversial offences such as the glorification of terrorism", he said. But Mr Blair told him: "By weakening our law on terrorism at this time from what is proposed will send the wrong signal out to the outside world and will do no service to those people in our police and law enforcement who are anxious to get on with the job of prosecuting people." Mr Blair said it was "incredible" after recent protests satirising the Prophet Muhammad that the Lords were proposing laws which would not cover placards. Shadow foreign secretary Mr Hague, standing in for David Cameron, denied that was true."Wouldn't it be better to have a watertight law designed to catch the guilty, rather than a press release law designed to catch the headlines?" he said. The Terrorism Bill, which is being debated in the House of Commons, was introduced after July's bomb attacks in London. It has suffered a rocky ride in Parliament, with MPs voting down plans to allow police to hold suspects for up to 90 days without charge. When the Commons last debated "glorification" in November, the government won by just 16 votes, with 27 Labour MPs rebelling. 'Dust up' Opening the Commons debate on the bill, Mr Clarke said the glorification offence had been promised in Labour's election manifesto. Conservative shadow attorney general Dominic Grieve said he backed a ban on indirect encouragement of terrorism. The glorification clause was not needed to fight incitement of terrorism but could constrain freedom of speech. "This is a bogus spat generated by No 10 Downing Street for the purpose of the prime minister looking tough," Mr Grieve told BBC News. He said the government had not properly defined glorification, so under the proposals the Irish taoiseach could face prosecution in the UK for celebrating the Easter Rising. That claim was branded as nonsense by the home secretary. 'Encouraging suicide bombs' He insisted: "The government is not seeking to pick any battle whatsoever." The glorification clause was needed to act against organisations which tried to promote terrorism and created an atmosphere where impressionable young men thought suicide bombings were a "noble and holy activity". The new law would stop placards which glorified the 7 July bombings, he said. Last month, peers also watered down plans to outlaw the spreading of terrorist publications. The Conservatives and Lib Dems pushed through an amendment designed to ensure that somebody would commit an offence only if they acted recklessly or with intent to provide the publications. They claimed government plans could leave academics, librarians and shopkeepers open to prosecution. The return of the bill to the Commons comes after MPs overturned a Lords defeat on plans to make ID cards compulsory for all new passport holders.
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