'Snooper's Bill' to be re-written after being branded 'overkill'

The Government's draft Communications Bill is to be re-written after a Commons Committee branded it 'overkill'. Credit: Press Assocation

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has told the Home Secretary that the draft Communications Bill, which gives police and security services new powers to monitor communications, needs to be rewritten to get the balance between security and liberty right.

Mr Clegg's objections have been fuelled by a Commons Committee which said the Bill's sweeping powers were "overkill", prompting the Deputy Prime Minister to say the bill needed a "fundamental re-think".

UK Editor Lucy Manning reports: