Timothy Garton Ash: The vote for 42-day detention risks stran...

Meanwhile, let's look at the evidence we have so far to understand what 42 days would mean. Anthony Barnett has done some of the detective work in a recent article on opendemocracy.net. He establishes that roughly half of those detained under existing limits (seven days under the 2000 Terrorism Act, 14 days since 2003, 28 days since 2006) were released without charge. Only six suspects were held right up to the 28th day, of whom three were then charged and three released without charge. Pressed by David Davis, the shadow home secretary, the police revealed that those released were not then placed under a control order or even under surveillance. "So they were innocent?" Davis asked. The police responded with what Barnett calls "a shrug of assent".

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