Terror rebels win debate concession

Two days have been set aside by Geoff Hoon for the debate on the proposal to extend detention without trial for suspected terrorists from 28 to 42 days which will trigger the next big Labour revolt agianst Gordon Brown's Government.

Hoon, the Government Chief Whip, was threatened with a rebellion over the timetable motion, if he had limited the debate to one day, and caved in. It is pencilled in for June 10 and 11 or the following week.

Brown is showing the same stubborness over 42 days, however, as he showed over the 10p tax revolt. Leaders of the rebellion are not willing to predict what effect the success of the 10p rebellion will have on the 42-days revolt.

"It's difficult to say what psychological effect it will have," said one of the leading Labour rebels. "It could make people think they have looked over the precipice and pull back. But we are not backing down."

The Home Office team under Jacqui Smith are pinning their hopes on their secret weapon - the Tory rebels. They are confident that a group of Tory MPs will refuse to follow their leader Dave in the division lobbies and will vote with the Government.

"It's amazing what can happen if 30 Tory MPs melt away into the night," said one optimistic minister.

Meanwhile the 10p tax rebels are checking the spoons. They are worried that the Chancellor will rat on his promise to protect all the losers from the abolition of the 10p tax rate and are focusing on the small print of the deal done with Frank Field.

They are worried by the Chancellor's use of the word 'average' when he referred to restoring the 'average loss' by the low-paid. It means some could gain more than they lost, but others will still lose out.

One of the reasons for this is Brown's refusal to restore the 10p rate and rely instead on the tax credit system to target help at the losers he regards as the deserving poor who exclude anyone who has retired early below 60 years of age.

The Treasury has privately admitted that the tax credit system cannot deal with the personal circumstances of all the losers. And Brown is so wedded to means-testing that he is persisting with a system that is looking more and more ramshackle by the day.

THE MOLE: 42 DAY REBELLION

FIRST POSTED APRIL 24, 2008