The statement announced that a review of current anti-terror laws will be overseen by former director of public prosecutions and Liberal Democrat peer Lord Macdonald of River Glaven.

BBC: Peers welcome counter-terrorism review statement

Lib Dem peer, Lord Carlile, the government's reviewer of anti-terror laws, broadly welcomed the phone tap idea but warned the government not to see it as a "silver bullet".

BBC: A phone tapping device

Influential figures in political life on the list include Lord Carlile, 63, the former independent reviewer of anti-terror laws who is made a CBE for services to national security while Labour MP Joan Ruddock becomes a dame.

BBC: Search the

Criticism of Mr Clegg's opposition has also come from within his own party, namely from Lib Dem peer Lord Carlile, who until 2011 was the independent reviewer of government anti-terror laws.

BBC: Tory-Labour pact could save data bill, says Lord Howard