The new powers would apply to British as well as foreign terror suspects. It would be the home secretary, not judges, who decided to impose control orders.

Tony Blair, who strongly supports the Home Secretaries scheme, said:There is no greater civil liberty than to live free from terrorist attack but the feeling from much of the British blogosphere is that Blair's words were nothing more than a cheap sound bite, failing both in the measure of sincerity and in accuracy.

One blogger remarked Blair's wrong. A greater civil liberty is being able to think and say what you like. Blair's problem is that he equates safety with liberty. He doesn't really understand what liberty means and that will ultimately be his nemesis.