How should we respond to the terrorist threat?

Home Secretary, David Blunkett has announced new anti-terror measures on Wednesday including the use of secretly-taped phone calls as evidence.

Other changes include the hearing of parts of some trials in secret, without a jury.

Mr Blunkett also gave details about a proposed expansion of MI5 with 1,000 new staff, many of them Arabic and Urdu speakers.

The home secretary has defended the proposals by claiming that the security services needed more powers to apprehend terrorists before they strike.

Are changes to anti-terrorism laws necessary? Do they violate civil liberties? Send us your views.

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This debate is now closed. Read your comments below.

The following comments reflect the balance of views we have received:

He seems to be edging us closer to a police state Ian West, Yorkshire, UK

The proposals by Mr Blunkett are more frightening than the terrorist threat. He seems to be edging us closer to a police state. The sort of police state I do not want. Although we are a democracy we seem to be slowly having our freedoms prised from us, always under the pretext of protecting us.
Ian West, Yorkshire, UK

We saw the police last year using "anti-terrorist" laws unashamedly against groups protesting the Docklands arms fair. These types of powers are a canker in the soul of law enforcement and have no place in a free society.
J. Molony, London, UK

It is a pointless exercise treating the symptoms without treating the cause. We need more honesty, not more secrets. Are we being lead by idiots, or by clever people using the current climate to achieve their own self-serving ends? The only thing for certain is that we are being lead further away from peace.
Simon, UK

Those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear. As long as the 'evidence' is real and true and not fabricated by grey men in hidden offices in some hidden location.
Joan Ames, Hexham, England

It is up to all of us to be vigilant. A watchful nation is of more use than a bigger security force.
Louise, Sydney, Australia

Our response to the terrorist threat should be both an increase in intelligence and a decrease in our blind following of US foreign policy.
John Farmer, Henley-on-Thames, UK

There is never an excuse for terrorism. It is not the ignorance of the west that creates terrorists but the backward thinking minds of the people who carry out the murderous and barbaric acts. Had these people been properly vetted before being allowed into the country we may have stood a better chance but they are already here? David Blunkett knows it we all know it, so any measure in curbing these fanatics is worth it.
Carole, Uxbridge, UK

Please stop the silly comparisons. The IRA never even came close to contemplating flying civilian aircraft into 10 Downing St or into The City.
Michael, Tokyo, Japan

Yes to phone taps, bring on the id cards etc.. we need to use every means possible to safe guard this country!
Terry, Leicester

It depends who the terrorists are, the IRA were terrorists and they were funded by the western world, now America and the UK are terrorists raiding a country for no legal reason, now the dictatorship is on are doorstep and our rights are being removed slowly but surly, when will all this strong wording change, were more likely to get hit by a bus than a bomb, tighten up are airports, prepare police forces, and be more aware but no guilty before proven guilty will protect us from a chemical weapon.
John Gearing, UK

Why do we allow our civil liberties to be so easily sacrificed for very little gain? Joe Wilkinson, Whitehaven, Cumbria

We lived with and endured IRA terrorism and its threat for over 25 years without our civil liberties being eroded to the great extent they are now. This threat can also be contained using existing terrorism laws. People's concept of risk seems to be out of control. There will be far, far more avoidable deaths on our roads every year than there will ever be through terrorism. Yet we would not allow our liberty to drive as we like to be restricted, why do we allow our civil liberties to be so easily sacrificed for very little gain?
Joe Wilkinson, Whitehaven, Cumbria

We are fighting the hydra, and rather than going for the heart, all these measures do is chop off a few heads, from which spring new heads to continue the fight. This way it will never end, and they will have won. They want a war between east and west and all we're doing is creating one.
Michael, Cambridge, UK

If more effort went into learning others' culture, then maybe we would stop trying to impose ours onto others. Ignorance breeds fear which in turn breeds violence.
Ian Jupp, Fleet, UK

The UK has decades of experience in successfully dealing with terrorist threats. The law seems to have worked then - why does it need to be changed now? It's US paranoia and arrogance corrupting our own legal system. This government are manipulating this issue so that our fear diverts our attention from the real political issues in this country - health, transport, taxation, pensions and the honesty of this government.
Phil, London

Every time we allow our liberties and existing laws to be whittled away and made more draconian, we hand another piece of victory to the terrorists. They WANT us living in fear, curtailing our laws and rights to make ourselves feel safe. We already have laws in place to deal with this. If we give up those laws and rights, then what are we fighting for?
Keith, Edinburgh, UK

Too much is being made of terrorist attacks Will Scott, Manchester

I personally think that too much is being made of terrorist attacks. I am sick and tired of hearing about the so-called "War on Terror". More people are dying each day on our roads and from cancer, but I don't see the government taking up a war against cancer, instead leaving research to be funded by charitable donations.
Will Scott, Manchester

Trial by jury is thoroughly inappropriate in these circumstances. Whilst an individual may possess the reasoning and ability to pass a verdict, the British public have time and time again proved themselves to be ignorant, bigoted irrational. None of these factors aid highly sensitive trials. I welcome all these changes, as they do not infringe on civil liberties I value. My concerns lie in the need some feel to silence others voices and opinions.
Jonny, Brighton

All our telephone calls and e-mails are monitored anyway, the government is just trying to modernise laws to permit this information to be used in court. However, great care should be taken in deciding what does and what doesn't constitute a threat to national security.
Mark, Hull

This whole thing is ridiculous - it's as if people have started living the pantomime that Tony Blair and the Sun want us to dance to. This terrorist threat is so marginal as to be a minor issue in comparison to the other issues of our times.
Linden Farrer, Stevenage, Herts

George Orwell was 20 years out in his predictions.
Nigel Collins, Brighton

These new laws will only infringe on your lawful rights Wayne, Derby

The existing laws are there to protect the innocent. These new laws will only infringe on your lawful rights. If the police, MI5 or whoever say they think you are a terrorist, then it is deemed you are beyond the help of the law and can be held without any trial for months or even years on end. The UK has had terrorists before and dealt with them, the only thing new is that the USA is now involved in fighting them instead of funding them!
Wayne, Derby

Just because the UK has not yet experienced an attack more serious than Canary Wharf or the Baltic Exchange does not mean that terrorists will not attack. David Blunkett is quite right in taking the proposed measures. Also taped calls should be allowed as evidence provided there are safeguards
Alastair Clarke, Leamington Spa

However much we resent the policies of the politicians, we need to realise that they know much more about the terrorist threats facing this country than we do, and as such, we need to trust them to make decisions for us concerning this problem.
Cat, Exeter, Devon

My idea of "civil liberty" is to go about my life without fear of terrorism or harm coming my way. I expect the government to act to protect the MAJORITY of us. If that means a small minority are denied "civil liberties" then so be it.
Ed Hollinshead, UK

Why does the group Liberty always talk about the human rights of terrorists? Terrorists do not give two hoots for anybody's lives never mind their human rights. Where will they be when it is one of their next of kin who is affected by a terrorist activity?
Romesh, Birmingham

The only way to defeat terrorism is to address the causes of it - not by creating miscarriages of justice.
Michael Bakunin, Stevenage, Herts

A lack of joined up thinking John C, Bath, England

If there is such a threat, why are we not taking stronger measures to vet people entering the country, or detaining illegals pending full security clearance? Yet again, a lack of joined up thinking, aimed at headline grabbing and panicking the British public.
John C, Bath, England

Trials in secret with evidence withheld from the defendant. Didn't we just obliterate Iraq on the basis Saddam was doing this kind of thing?
John B, UK

I think it's sad that we have to worry about things like this in this day and age. Surely by now we should all have learned just to get along? After all pop music is always talking about love, so perhaps we should all tune in and listen to its message?
Jennifer McNeil, Bristol, UK

We DO need new anti-terror measures to deal with an unconventional enemy who's only wish is to kill westerners and whose only motivation is an unpleasant mix of religious intolerance, envy and hatred of the West.
Susan, London, UK

We live in the 21st century therefore we need 21st century laws to combat 21st century terrorists. Some civil liberties will have to go as a result. However, those who do not break the laws will have nothing to fear
Jeremy Tugwood, Worthing

Everybody needs to be more vigilant Jon, Belper

I don't believe a change in law is needed. Everybody needs to be more vigilant and, if they see something suspicious, it should be reported immediately. There are too many people in this country with an 'it doesn't concern me, it's somebody else's job' attitude. Well wake up people, it DOES concern you.
Jon, Belper

Yes the new laws do violate civil liberties but as I have nothing to hide, I do not have a problem with the changes. If we do not make the changes and we are attacked then people will say that we did not do enough. The public should be happy that the government is making it at hard as possible for attacks to happen.
Mark B, Rugby

This, as usual, has far more worrying implications about civil liberties being impeded and human rights woefully abused. Under the veil of "terror", freedom is slowly being stripped away from a frightened populous.
Christopher Hogarty, Oxford

Once again our civil liberties are being eroded in the name of 'freedom'. When will the governments of the UK and USA wake up to the fact that it's their imperialistic attitudes towards the rest of the world that are fostering resentment against us?
Chris Hall, Farnborough, UK

How long will we have to suffer this continuous assault on our human rights? We would all be safer if this government took a stand against US foreign policy instead of bowing to the Bush administration's every whim.
Simon Timothy, Aberdeen, Scotland

We don't need more law, we do need better vigilance Gerry, UK

If you can keep your head when all around are losing theirs...it's time for cool heads. We already have sufficient powers to deal with terrorist suspects, we already have a secret service listening in on phone calls and e-mails. We don't need more law, we do need better vigilance.
Gerry, UK

September 11th style atrocities WILL occur in the UK. The liberals may not have realised it yet, but we are fighting an unconventional Third World War which unfortunately requires unconventional means.
Howard, London

Surely if we allow David Blunkett to impose these draconian security measures, which verge on totalitarianism, then we have let the terrorists win as we are letting them affect the day to day running of the country and the way we live our lives. New Labour, New Totalitarianism
Richie, Edinburgh, UK

If we feel we have to violate our people's civil liberties, holding trials behind closed doors and employing secret policemen then the terrorists have already won.
John, UK

I can't help feeling that this is part of a massive social engineering project; with the BBC under fire, close door enquiries, human rights erosion via Blunkett's court 'reforms', restrictions on speech, ID cards etc... Call me paranoid, but gradually we will get used to a police presence over this apparent terrorist threat, and perhaps easier to 'guide' into a police state.
Max Richards, England

People should remember the miscarriages of justice that happened when we were prosecuting the IRA in open court. How much more likely are incorrect verdicts in secret trials? Phone tapping evidence is OK, but evidence given in secret is not. Justice needs to be seen to be done.
Duncan Harris, Chester, UK

Bring on the tough measures Cath Davis, Manchester, UK

It's very unlikely that a totally innocent person would be caught up in all these anti-terrorism laws. So anyone affected must be up to something, even if they then try to claim they were within their human rights, speaking out for justice blah, blah, blah. I say bring on the tough measures.
Cath Davis, Manchester, UK

We could have started by listening to the advice from the intelligence agencies that invading Iraq would increase the terrorist threat to the UK. So now Blair and co have increased the danger to us... we have to lose our liberties...
R K Bulmer, London, UK

Edward from Huddersfield illustrates a short sightedness beyond belief. The fact is that unsuccessful terrorist actions aren't publicised therefore the general public rarely find out what might have happened. We live in dangerous times, the sooner some people start living in the real world the better.
Andrew Paterson, UK

The whole thing is so overrated. I don't believe there is a significant threat, not enough for people to become unduly worried and certainly not enough that it requires changes in legislation and more state powers. How many successful terrorist actions have there been in the UK or USA since 9/11? How many attempts? Do we really need air marshals or surveillance powers to protect us against a threat that has been largely exaggerated?
Edward, Huddersfield