William Hague: Public should not fear GCHQ systems

The Foreign Secretary William Hague has said that British intelligence gathering operates within a strict legal framework, and that law-abiding citizens have nothing to fear from it.

There has been growing pressure on the government to clarify how much ministers knew about claims that GCHQ has been spying on British people's internet use by receiving information secretly gathered by the US.

Speaking on The Andrew Marr Show, Mr Hague insisted that intelligence gathering in the UK was "authorised, necessary, proportionate and targeted".