The defeat of the proposal for a 90-day pre-charge detention period for terrorist suspects is a personal setback for Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan police commissioner, and senior counter-terrorist officers.

It was this group within the Association of Chief Police Officers that drafted the proposal after the London bombings, persuaded ministers to adopt it and lobbied MPs ahead of last night's vote. The group drew criticism from some lawyers and civil rights groups, which claimed it had become dangerously 'politicised'.