This is the first time the Government has indicated it might “derogate” from the international treaty and put suspects under far stricter conditions – such as  making them stay at home round the clock.

Mr Reid said: “We will consider other options – which  include derogation – if we have exhausted ways of overturning previous judgments.”

Control orders were introduced in March 2005 to replace emergency laws, brought in after the 9/11 attacks, which had allowed the Government to lock up foreign nationals suspected of being international terrorists indefinitely without charge or trial.

In December 2004, the House of Lords ruled that the laws were illegal, so the Govern-ment created control orders allowing the men to be kept under virtual house arrest.

But it has suffered major setbacks in a series of court rulings that conditions breached human rights.

They varied from breaching the right to a fair trial, not to be indefinitely detained without trial and loss of liberty. The rulings meant lighter controls had to be imposed. Mr Reid is appealing against a number of them in the Lords. Lib Dem home affairs spokes­man Nick Clegg said: “John Reid reveals a worrying mix of sloppy thinking and buck-passing. It is time he stopped blaming human rights law every time something goes wrong.”

New proposals are expected to be unveiled in a few weeks.

They are likely to include moves to allow questioning after a charge and even a return to the controversial length of time a suspect can be held without charge.

The Government suffered a  defeat in the Commons last year, when a planned increase in the period from 14 to 90 days was cut to  28 days.

Mr Blair’s spokesman said: “This is down to Parliament not backing us in the first place in terms of the length of additional period we wanted and in limiting the effectiveness of control orders.”

One of the latest control-order fugitives, Lamine Adam, 26, was on the fringe of the plot to blow up the Bluewater shopping centre and a London nightclub.

One of the plotters was Adam’s brother, part-time male model Anthony Garcia, 25. Last month, he was jailed for a minimum of 20 years for conspiracy to cause explosions.

Adam was never charged with any offences connected to the plan. But MI5 officers considered him so dangerous, they recommended a control order to restrict his movements..

He, his other brother Ib­ra­him, 20, and their friend Cerie Bullivant, 24, went on the run after breaching the terms of their control orders. Intelligence sources say they  may have fled abroad and be heading for Iraq or Afghanistan.

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