Nick Clegg has said that plans to monitor the British public's web and email communications will first be published in draft so that they can be debated in Parliament.

According to Clegg "any measures will be proportionate. They will not sacrifice people's civil liberties, we will not create a new government database and we will not give police new powers to look into people's emails."

A fact sheet about the communications data legislation has been released by the home office, which states that police and security agencies can get access to communications data if they can demonstrate that it is necessary in a criminal investigation.

Yesterday, a spokesperson for the data protection and privacy watchdog the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said that the criticism over the plans was a concern, but said that no official comment could be made unless the plans were formally announced.