WE welcome the fact that Home Secretary Charles Clarke has been pushed into making a fundamental concession on the Government's controversial anti-terror laws.

It was crucial that the proposed "control orders" were imposed by judges and not politicians, and we should all breathe a sigh of relief that such an important principle of justice has survived to that extent.

But although the concession enabled the Prevention of Terrorism Bill to scrape through the Commons, Mr Clarke still faces a rough ride in getting it past the House of Lords.

Progress has clearly been made but, while we understand the enormous difficulties facing the Government, we still have concerns about introducing legislation which punishes someone without charges being made against them or evidence of their guilt being aired in public.

Mr Clarke insists that there will be no more concessions but the signs are that further safeguards will have to be put in place before the new legislation is finalised.

And further to that, we believe the Tories' proposal to review the measures after eight months is sound.

The need to have new laws in place before the general election campaign is undeniable. But the timescale has meant that we are being rushed into a momentous change in the way our society operates.

It is therefore sensible to make a provision for that change to be reconsidered when the dust has settled.