Labour and opposition British MPs joined Muslim and civil rights groups in voicing concerns today about proposed new anti-terror laws to give police powers to stop and question anyone in the UK.
Anyone who refused to give their name or explain what they were doing could be charged with obstructing the police and fined up to £5,000. It is likely that police would need a "reasonable suspicion" in order to stop and question somebody.
The new laws are set to form part of a package being put together by the country's Home Secretary John Reid as he prepares to quit the cabinet next month.
But cabinet colleague Peter Hain, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland where the powers are already in force, warned the tough new anti-terror restrictions could become "the domestic equivalent of Guantanamo Bay".
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said it would be a shame if tackling al-Qaeda meant the laws were not relaxed as expected in Ulster.
A Home Office spokeswoman said: "We are considering a range of measures for the Bill and 'stop and question' is one of them."
Shadow foreign secretary William Hague said the Tories would judge any detailed proposals on their merits but warned they would need public support. He told BBC1's Sunday AM: "We will listen to the proposals... but they have to be proposals consistent with popular consent in this country and with not alienating the people whose co-operation we need in the fight against terrorism."
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg accused the government of seeking a "police state" and warned it would only increase radicalism.
Inayat Bunglawala, spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, argued that the new powers would lead to young Muslim men being "disproportionately targeted". He said that of 22,700 stop and searches carried out by the Metropolitan Police last year, only 27 led to terrorism-related arrests.
"Our concern is that what are already dismal results will get even worse," he added.
"It will only succeed in driving a further wedge between the police and sections of the Muslim community."
PA