Charles Clarke attempted today to take the heat off Tony Blair after last night's humiliating Commons defeat, claiming personal responsibility for the decision to press ahead with a doomed proposal to give police the power to detain terror suspects for up to 90 days without charge.

As political insiders discussed the effects of Mr Blair's first Commons defeat on his future as Prime Minister, the Home Secretary denied that Mr Blair had unilaterally ruled out a cross-party compromise on the Terrorism Bill. "He is nothing like the private dictator that he is sometimes portrayed as being," Mr Clarke said.

A total of 49 Labour MPs voted against the 90-day detention period, overturning the Government's majority of 66 to inflict a 31-vote defeat.

Instead the Commons backed a rebel amendment to extend the period suspects can be held from 14 to 28 days - less than a third of the time that the Government and the police had been asking for.

Mr Clarke said today that he was "very regretful" about the defeat. "It was my judgment," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "I regret I got the judgment wrong in terms of the House and the ability to get that position through."

Mr Clarke's decision to take the rap for Mr Blair's most bruising defeat seemed to be at odds with the actual events of the past week. On Monday, as the wider debate was coming to a head, the Home Secretary left a meeting with Opposition leaders suggesting that he was about to table a compromise amendment, largely expected to be for a 42-day period.

Only minutes later, however, at his regular monthly press conference, Mr Blair mounted a passionate defence of the 90-day proposal. By the end of that day, Downing Street made it clear that there would be no compromise on offer - effectively leaving the Government with no fallback position.

After a Cabinet meeting this morning, Mr Blair's official spokesman said that the Prime Minister was "in no way" letting his Home Secretary carry the can for the defeat. He said there was no division between Mr Blair and Mr Clarke over strategy or tactics.

Instead, the spokesman said, Mr Blair had told ministers that there was a "worrying gap" between the view of MPs and the reality of the terrorist threat. The spokesman said that view was confirmed at a "sobering" Downing Street meeting this morning with senior police officers.

In his BBC interview, the Home Secretary insisted that Mr Blair did not railroad him into pushing the 90-day proposal. He said: "I have felt all the way through, at every point throughout the whole process, that the police case for 90 days is made and makes the country more secure than we are at the moment.

"I have also been clear, however, that it was my job to try to get a vote through the House of Commons. And if there wasn’t a majority for 90 in the Commons, then to try to find a majority for something else and to seek a consensus along that basis.

"What happened over the weekend was a very strong comeback (from MPs) saying go for the 90, because that is the right thing, you may well be able to get it through the Commons, particularly if you put a sunset clause in, combined with the opposition parties saying they under no circumstances would go above 28.

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