Britain's Brown plans major security law overhaul

LONDON, June 3 (Reuters) Gordon Brown, heir-elect to Prime Minister Tony Blair, plans to beef up Britain's security laws when he takes over at the end of this month, British newspapers reported.

Not only does Brown intend to ask parliament again to allow police to hold terrorism suspects more than the already extended limit of 28 days without charge, but he also wants to let them continue questioning them after charging, the newspapers said.

The reports -- either unsourced or citing a ''well-placed'' source -- appeared in the Sunday Telegraph, the Sunday Times and thr Observer, papers spanning the political spectrum.

Brown is due to take over from Blair on June 27 after an unopposed nomination from within the parliamentary Labour Party.

The newspapers said Brown was set to declare the new security plans shortly after he assumes power.

The Observer said the proposals would be as follows: - An extension of the 28-day limit on detention without charge. Blair had wanted to extend this to 90 days, but had to limit it to 28 days after a (House of) Commons rebellion.

- Making terrorism an aggravating factor in sentencing, handing judges greater powers.

- Ending the ban on questioning by police after a terrorist suspect has been charged. This would be subject to judicial oversight to ensure that it is correctly and sparingly used.

- Moving towards allowing evidence from telephone-tapping to be admissible as evidence in court by holding a Privy Council review into whether the law should be changed.

- Increasing the security budget, which has already doubled to more than two billion pounds a year since 9/11.

REUTERS PDS BST0546