Plans to lock up suspects for six weeks without charge have been dropped after the House of Lords rejected the idea.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has set out an emergency compromise where a judge will have to approve the powers.

She announced the climbdown in an emergency statement to MPs shortly after the proposal was thrown out by a massive majority of 191 in the upper chamber.

Speculation had been rife that the measure, which previously scraped through the Commons by just nine votes thanks to the votes of Democratic Unionist MPs, would be dumped by the Government.

Ministers will hope the presentation of the new Bill will give them a degree of political cover as they walk away from what was a major plank of their counter-terror policy.

They were left with little choice but to ditch the plans, when faced with the prospect of a bruising return to the Commons and a fresh rebellion by Labour backbenchers.

Full article here