It's a live blog, it's about terror

Updated on 11 June 2008

Inside the Channel 4 newsroom....

There's a big vote in the Commons tonight, in case you didn't know.

MPs have the chance to back government plans to extend the time the police can detain terror suspects without charge, from 28 days to 42 days.

Or they can - and we're talking Labour backbenchers here - give prime minister Gordon Brown another bloody nose.

This is a story that has political ramifications as well as broader civic ramifications that play directly to the well-worn civil liberties / national security debate.

It's also a story that (should) play to the timing of our flagship programme.

The debate kicks off at 3pm*, followed by a vote three hours later. The result therefore should break just before we come on air at 7pm.

We say should only because the last time we thought the result of a big vote - the London Mayoral election - would fall 'in our time', Boris Johnson ended up making a midnight victory speech.

Lax timing-keeping aside, the slug '42 DAYS' inevitably dominates the top of today's prospects list.

And prominent on this list is another called '42 DAYS - LIVE BLOG'. That's right, we'll be blogging live throughout the afternoon - during the debate, as the result comes in and through the programme tonight.

Live blogging? Think over-by-over cricket commentaries. Think ball-by-ball football commentaries. This, though, is not for sports junkies: it's for political junkies.

It started with a working title, Terror Blog Live!. And as is often the case the working title stuck.

Political editor Gary Gibbon (featured in the video above) and political correspondent Cathy Newman will be prowling the corridors of the Palace of Westminster all afternoon and we'll tell you what they hear.

And we'd welcome your involvement. Watch the blog unfold, take part in our quick polls, add your comments and post questions for our (as-yet-to-be-announced) studio guests tonight.

Join us for the pre-match build up at 2.45pm. Terror Blog Live! is here. Go bookmark.

*UPDATE: we're now hearing the debate may kick off at 12.50pm, in which case we'll be live just after PMQs