The government was yesterday severely criticised for its policies on anti-terror legislation, frequent use of anti-social behaviour orders, high numbers of children held in detention and its treatment of asylum seekers.

A scathing report by the European commissioner for human rights, Alvaro Gil-Robles, condemned use of control orders for terrorist suspects and other anti-terrorism measures, which he said had had "a repercussion extending beyond their impact on individual persons to entire communities".