A MEETING in Bournemouth heard signs on Wednesday night of a reversal in the government's anti-terrorism policy of introducing strict new legislation.

Minister for security Tony McNulty spoke of dealing with terrorism with "normality" - prompting immediate praise from noted human rights campaigner Shami Chakrabarti.

The government has attracted fierce criticism from Ms Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, for introducing special police powers in the wake of Al-Queada attacks.

The pair were talking at a Labour conference fringe debate at the Tralee Hotel on the question of how Britain can win a war on terror.

Mr McNulty was talking about Islamic terror compared to previous terror attacks and said: "To suggest that the rules of the game have changed is actually to help the other side rather than our own side.

"That the more ways these things are tackled with normality, the better."

Shami asked if there were any journalists in the room because what Mr McNulty had said was "really important".

She said: "The rules of the game have not changed. That didn't come from me - but from Tony McNulty.

"I want to kill the fatted calf, put my best ring on your finger, and the angels are whooping in heaven tonight."

She said the struggle against terrorism was ideological, social and operational, not a "war" that needed special rules to deal with it.

The debate was organised by the left leaning Institute for Public Policy Research and speakers included Ed Hussein, the former radical.