Tories are pressing for the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee to carry out an inquiry into the lobbying of MPs by chief constables ahead of Wednesday's vote on the Terrorism Bill.
They claim the Government put pressure on the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) to throw their weight behind Tony Blair's campaign to secure 90-day detention, which was defeated by MPs last week.
But Mr Reid accused the Conservatives of a "slur on the integrity of the police".
He insisted that senior officers are perfectly entitled to inform MPs about their assessment of the operational capabilities they need to protect public safety, and had done so under governments of all political colours.
Home Secretary Charles Clarke has confirmed that he wrote to the ACPO on November 3, asking senior officers to make themselves available to MPs seeking information about the rationale behind the 90-day proposal.
The ACPO's spokesman on terrorism, Sussex chief constable Ken Jones, wrote to his fellow police chiefs the following day, suggesting they contact their local MPs. Many did so, by letter and telephone.
The former chief constable of Humberside, David Westwood, said that police had allowed the damaging perception to be created that they were trying to influence the parliamentary process.
And Tory MP Robert Key hinted that the Government had used threats to enlist police chiefs' support. He pointed out that on the same day as the terror vote, Home Office minister Hazel Blears published proposals to merge police services which could leave many chief constables out of a job.
Senior Conservatives Peter Lilley and Stephen Dorrell have tabled a parliamentary motion condemning the lobbying of MPs as a step towards the politicisation of the police.
Evening Standard
Ed: Has Reid lost contact with reality or is he lieing to order?
The B.B.C. has the interesting headline, for this story,
Reid defends police in terror row.
Do their Editors get sick producing this sort of sycophantic rubbish.
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