AN Irish group's call for Shadow Home Secretary - Blackburn MP Jack Straw - to defend Labour's "support" for the Prevention of Terrorism Act has been condemned as an inaccurate stunt.

The Irish In Britain Representation Group claim to have asked Mr Straw to talk about the issue at their Irish Heartbreak conference on March 16.

But a spokesman for Mr Straw's office said the group had based the invitation on untruths and that it would be impossible for him to attend at such short notice.

The IBRG's Bernadette Hyland called on Irish people to boycott political parties, like Labour, "that support the PTA".

But Mr Straw's spokesman Ed Owen said: "Labour has had a long-standing objection to the Prevention of Terrorism Act on two grounds.

"We disagree with exclusion orders and with the extension of detention of terrorist suspects without any judicial involvement.

"Above all, we have always wanted a proper revue of the act headed by a senior judge, and that has now been granted.

"Rather than vote against the PTA, this year we decided to abstain on the understanding that our objections will be addressed."

The IBRG's conference will concentrate on the effect the PTA has had on the Irish community in Britain and "consequent miscarriages of justice".

Bernadette Hyland added: "Thousands of innocent Irish people have been stopped and questioned under this legislation on a regular basis as they travel back and forth to Ireland.

"It has seriously impeded our civil rights to discuss the political situation in our own country."

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