Policy Announcements, Thursday 07 June

Government

• The home secretary has promised the government will make an unprecedented attempt to reach parliamentary consensus before it brings forward new anti-terrorism laws. On the most controversial issue, whether to extend the period terror suspects can be held without charge beyond 28 days, John Reid said he wanted to build "broad agreement" on the way forward. A government attempt to push for 90 days detention without charge caused Tony Blair's first Commons defeat in 2005. Reid suggested it might be possible to increase the limit with "further judicial and parliamentary oversight", including an annual report to Parliament with an accompanying debate.
• Tesco's policy of sending money-off vouchers to customers who buy a lot of wine has been questioned during a Commons grilling over loyalty schemes. Chairman of the influential Commons home affairs committee, John Denham, said the supermarket giant's Clubcard scheme could encourage alcohol abuse. But Tesco's Nick Eland insisted the firm marketed goods responsibly. He told MPs it would never use loyalty cards to promote tobacco or baby milk but it would send out "wine coupons". The Commons home affairs committee is investigating whether Britain is turning into a "surveillance society" and was taking evidence about shopping loyalty cards.  

G8 

• A plan agreed by world leaders to make "substantial cuts" to carbon emissions is "a major, major step forward", Tony Blair has said. German chancellor Angela Merkel announced that the G8 had agreed reductions with a view to halving their emissions by 2050. The prime minister said he was "both surprised and very pleased at how far we've come forward in these last couple of years since the Gleneagles summit".