Do the professionals want 42-day detention?

One of the Government’s loudest defences for 42-day detention is that it will help the intelligence services and the police catch more terrorists. Problem is, the professionals aren’t exactly backing this claim up. CoffeeHousers who caught Jacqui Smith being interviewed yesterday will have heard her admit that MI5 haven’t asked for an extension from 28 days. And, today, the Guardian reveals that certain senior policemen are set against the Government’s proposals. Their worries deserve quoting: 

[42-day detention will incur] Damage to relations with Muslim communities from whom intelligence to counter terrorism is needed; 

Fears that detectives will face pressure to find, even manufacture evidence, against those held for 42 days; 

Damage to the police’s reputation by becoming involved in such a controversial issue.

Ok, so some voices have put an alternative viewpoint forward. But these latest revelations are still the strongest proof yet that the Government’s plans are a cynical, political stunt, rather than “the