Blair's first defeat in the Commons

MPs delivered a massive snub to Prime Minister Tony Blair, rejecting his proposals for police to be allowed to hold terror suspects for 90 days and voting instead for a much shorter 28-day period.

The rebuff on the 90-day proposal in the Terrorism Bill by a margin of 31 votes was the Government's first defeat in the House of Commons since Labour came to power in 1997.

Mr Blair had left absolutely no doubt of his personal commitment to 90-day detention, and its rejection by 322-291 is a significant blow to his authority, which some believe may bring forward his departure as Labour leader.

In dramatic scenes at the House of Commons, after rejecting the Prime Minister's preferred option, MPs delivered a second blow by backing a proposal for a 28-day maximum detention period by 323-290, a majority of 33.

A tense-looking Mr Blair was in the chamber to hear the result of the vote, shaking his head as the numbers were revealed.

The scale of the defeat was a shock for Government Whips with a reported 41 Labour MPs joining Liberal Democrats, nationalists and most Tories to overturn Mr Blair's 66-strong majority.

Following the vote, Scottish Nationalist Party leader Alex Salmond said: "The Prime Minister has just fallen off the high wire."

During stormy exchanges at Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Blair urged MPs of all parties to be "responsible" in backing the measures put forward by police.

He told them: "We are not living in a police state, but we are living in a country that faces a real and serious threat of terrorism - terrorism that wants to destroy our way of life, terrorism that wants to inflict casualties on us without limit.