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The plan to extend the detention limit to 42 days got through the Commons with a majority of nine MPs.

Gordon Brown is facing a media grilling over why he had to rely on the DUP's support and how it was achieved.

Some 36 Labour backbenchers rebelled against the government and joined forces with the Tories and Lib Dems.

Shouting

They argued that the 42-day plan represented a threat to civil liberties.

Six SNP MPs also voted against the proposal, as did three Plaid Cymru MPs and three from the Northern Ireland-based SDLP.

Ministers insist this new maximum detention period - an extension from the current 28 days - is vital to deal with ever more complex terror plots.

The 42-day proposal was passed by 315 MPs to 306 - with votes by the nine Democratice Unionist Party (DUP) MPs proving crucial.

There was uproar in the Commons as the result of the key vote on 42 days was announced after five hours of tense debate - with Tory and Lib Dem MPs shouting "You've been bought" at the DUP benches.

They claimed the DUP had been offered inducements - including extra financial help for Northern Ireland - to guarantee its support.

Labour rebels said the DUP had obtained guarantees that the government would block efforts to use the Human Embryology and Fertility Bill, currently going through Parliament, to loosen abortion rules in Northern Ireland.

DUP deny deal

But the DUP and the government denied any suggestion they had made an agreement.

Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward told the BBC: "There was no deal. There is no deal. They [the DUP] decided on principle. They made up their own minds."

The DUP's William McCrea denied it was promised any financial support and insisted it voted on principle.

"The issue was on national security," the South Antrim MP said.

Despite winning the vote, Mr Brown is likely to face a torrid time during his Downing Street press conference.

The government still has to get its terror detention plan - part of the Counter-Terrorism Bill - through the House of Lords, with a vote likely later this year.

BBC political editor Nick Robinson said opponents, led by former Labour cabinet ministers Lord Falconer and Lord Goldsmith, were "easily powerful enough to defeat Gordon Brown (in the Lords) in a way that he was not defeated in the Commons".

(BBC)

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