Brown faces more pressure

A leading British opposition politician suddenly quit yesterday to force an election which will keep the pressure on Prime Minister Gordon Brown over his plans to toughen terrorism laws.

David Davis, the Conservatives' spokesman on home affairs, resigned his parliamentary seat to stand again, promising to argue against what he called "the slow strangulation of fundamental British freedoms by this government."

The move, a personal decision not sanctioned in advance by the Conservative leadership, effectively makes the vote in his constituency a referendum on Mr Brown's security measures. Mr Brown, his popularity at record lows in opinion polls, won a parliamentary vote on Wednesday with a majority reduced from 65 to just nine.

He had to rely on Northern Irish lawmakers to secure victory and offered concessions to rebels in his governing Labour Party, but 36 Labour lawmakers still voted against the measure.

The slim majority is unlikely to reassure Labour members of Parliament about his suitability to lead them into the next parliamentary election, due by 2010.

A Labour lawmaker in the House of Lords said Mr Brown would face a tough time when the upper chamber meets, probably before the end of July, to debate his plan to extend the time terrorism suspects can be held from 28 days to 42.

"The Prime Minister might find he's getting a bit of a roasting at the other end of Parliament because the House of Lords will actually chew this up," Baroness Helena Kennedy told the BBC. "I will be a rebel.

The House of Lords can stall legislation but cannot prevent it from becoming law. However, its opposition could drag on the process for months, proving a major embarrassment to Mr Brown.