Britain urges EU to act quickly on security law

"I believe that provided there are proper safeguards that no one's civil liberties are threatened by retention and access to data, but the protection of everybody is more greatly enhanced," he said at the European Parliament.

"There has, I know, been some hesitancy on some dossiers, particularly on this issue of the retention and access to telecommunications data ... on the perfectly justifiable grounds of civil liberties," he said.

"I understand those concerns," said Straw, speaking at an "exchange of views" with the parliament's committee on foreign affairs in Brussels.

It was his first address to members since the Thursday morning rush-hour bombings, which killed at least 52 people and injured some 700 in the British capital's underground rail system and on a bus.

"I hope that we can, within this forum, consent to agreeing that and also to more rapid implementation of aspects of counter-terrorist legislation already agreed to, for the example the freezing of assets," he said.