Anyone who refused to give their name or explain what they were doing could be charged with obstructing the police and fined up to £5,000.

Opponents compared the planned legislation, part of a package being put together by Home Secretary John Reid, to the controversial "sus" laws of the 1970s and early 1980s.

Peter Hain, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, where the powers are already in force, warned the restrictions could become "the domestic equivalent of Guantanamo Bay". But it emerged later that it was the Northern Ireland Office - Mr Hain's own department - that proposed extending the provision across the UK.

It is understood that stop and question powers in Ulster are due to be relaxed as part of the peace process, but officials in the province want to retain them.

Labour chairwoman Hazel Blears told Sky News: "What I understand is that the request has come from the Northern Ireland Office because they have the powers, they want to be able to carry on using them, they find them useful."

Newly re-elected Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said it would be a shame if tackling al Qaida meant the laws were not relaxed in Ulster as expected.

Mr Hain, a candidate for Labour's deputy leadership, said he wanted to see the details of the policy before making any judgment.

But he told BBC1's Sunday AM: "We cannot have a reincarnation of the old 'sus' laws under which mostly black people, ethnic minorities, were literally stopped on sight and that created a really bad atmosphere and an erosion of civil liberties."

Counter-terrorism minister Tony McNulty said the measures would not go before Parliament until the autumn, allowing plenty of time for consultation. He insisted they would only be used to tackle terrorism and would not mark a return to the "heavy-handed days of 'sus' law", which permitted police officers to act on suspicion, or "sus", alone.