When asked if his gut instinct agreed with the proposition, he said: "Absolutely not. I'm very, very sceptical about that."

 

If the government did indeed go ahead with the proposal, it would be at an added £2 billion expense to the British taxpayer; not to mention the introduction of what Lib Dem president Tim Farron likened to "creeping surveillance". Although the powers that be have tried to assure Britain that the actual content of the messages won't be accessible without a warrant, the plans may still feel like an invasion of privacy to some.

 

The move would affect everyone from members of the public to those utilising email marketing campaigns, but is one that has been hailed as crucial to the nation's security.

 

James Brokenshire, the security minister, expressed his thoughts earlier in April. Dailymail.co.uk published his comments, which included his adamant stance that the motivation behind the plans is keeping Britain safe - not "real-time snooping on everybody's emails".

 

Speaking to the Radio Four 'The World at One' programme, he added: "What this is not is the previous government's plan of creating some sort of great Big Brother database. That is precisely not what this is looking at."