MPs call for proof that Britain is under threat from al Qaeda

Senior MPs and peers today demanded an independent investigation into whether Britain is really under grave threat from terrorists.

Ministers were urged to submit their evidence for detailed scrutiny in secret, possibly by the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee.

And the Government was told to publish an intelligence dossier so the nation could see the proof that al Qaeda is poised to strike.

The calls came in a critical report from the cross-party Joint Human Rights Committee, which effectively cast doubt on government claims about the scale and nature of the terrorist threat.

It follows accusations in America that President Bush's administration exaggerated the risk of attack for political gain.

US officials were today insisting they were right to raise an alert over potential attacks on Wall Street and Washington, after it emerged that the intelligence behind the warning was years old.

In Britain, too, ministers have been charged with stoking up fear to boost public acceptance of hardline counter-terrorist policies.

Downing Street aides are certain to resist the call for an intelligence dossier, as it would carry echoes of the notorious dossiers in the runup to the war with Iraq.

In its review of emergency antiterrorist legislation, the committee called for the urgent repeal of the law under which 12 foreign nationals are being detained indefinitely without trial at high-security Belmarsh Prison.

The committee also warned that police raids under anti-terror laws were alienating Britain's Muslim community.