UK's Lord Nazir opposes 42-day detention proposal
'Pakistan Times' Wire Service

LONDON: The British member of House of Lords, Lord Nazir Ahmed of Rotherham while opposing the proposed 42-day detention without charge under Terrorism Act has said this move will further alienate young British Muslims.

He warned to tell voters which Labour MPs in marginal seats voted for the plan if it became law.

“There is one community alone that will suffer as a result of this”, he said. “I am a Labour loyalist but I will remind people to remember MPs who vote for 42-days when they are looking for votes in marginal constituencies” he added.

“It seems that the easy way to show that they are tough is to target the Muslim community again”, he said in a statement.

Lord Ahmed said that the Government had taken a U-turn on the 10p tax, on super-casino and fuel duty but the Government wants to punish the Muslim communities further by introducing these horrific measures.

He said that “the Commissioner for Human Rights, Council of Europe, is absolutely right to remind the British Government that the UK already has Draconian anti-terror laws where people are held for 28-days without charge.

“This is the longest period within the democratic world, and these new measures would put our Government in parallel to dictatorships which uses oppressive measures against its own people.

The new measures will inevitably demean the Habeas Corpus principles embedded within the Magna Carta,” he said. ●