In a rare move, British spymasters have denied that they plan to install thousands of black boxes to monitor all internet and telephone use in Britain.

GCHQ has said that a £1bn plan, called Mastering the Internet (MTI), was not a snooping project and was just a method of keeping pace with developments in internet technology. According to the statement GCHQ has no ambitions, expectations or plans for a database or databases to store centrally all communications data in Britain."

The British media thought that the MTI project would give GCHQ the ability to "spy at will" on all internet traffic in Britain, including emails, website visits, social networking sessions, and telephone calls, 14 per cent of which are made using VoIP.

GCHQ acknowledged the existence of the MTI project, and said it was necessary to meet the threat posed by "those who threaten the UK and its interests".

The statement said that British spooks needed to reinvest continuously to keep up with the methods that are used by those who threaten the UK and its interests. So the black boxes are probably in line with the exploding briefcase, the car that goes under water and the trousers that
turn into jam.