UK considering tough new anti-terror laws

Other measures, to be introduced only if Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour government wins a general election expected in mid-2005, would include allowing evidence gained from telephone tapping to be used in trials.

Also, Blunkett said, people who had not committed an offence but were suspected of planning terrorism acts could have their actions restricted by so-called "civil orders", similar to a system of anti-social behaviour orders introduced recently to target repeat criminals.

The proposals will most likely alarm civil liberties campaigners in Britain, some of whom view Blunett as an authoritarian more concerned with pleasing right-wing tabloid newspapers than preserving individual freedoms.