Tony Blair turned on the judiciary and opposition parties today when asked about the disappearance of two terrorist suspects who are supposed to be under virtual house arrest.

The Home Office was forced to admit last night that two men living under the strict constraints of control orders had escaped: one, an Iraqi who is thought to have links to al-Qaeda in Iraq, has been missing since August; the other, a Briton, climbed out of the window of a mental health unit two weeks ago and has not been seen since.

When asked about the fugitives today, the Prime Minister criticised opposition MPs and the courts for weakening the Government's anti-terrorism measures and leaving the Home Office with the fallible control order regime in the first place.

"We, of course, wanted far tougher laws against terrorism," he told his monthly news conference today. "We were prevented by opposition in parliament and then by the courts in ensuring that was done."

"I wanted to make sure that the original anti-terrorist legislation was maintained in full," said Mr Blair. "Control orders were never going to be as effective as detention."

Mr Blair said it was the "self-same" people who were now calling for tougher rules and an inquiry into the escapes who had opposed the Government's original requests for stronger powers.

"I think people have got to be careful of forgetting completely the history of this."

Control orders were created in March 2005 after the law lords ruled that the detention of 12 foreign nationals without charge in Belmarsh high security prison in London was illegal. The men were held for more than three years without charge after being arrested in the months after the September 11 attacks.

Issued by the Home Secretary, the orders are intended to control the movements of suspected terrorists whom the Government is unable to prosecute for lack of evidence, or because the evidence against them would expose another investigation. Those served with control orders are not charged with a crime, although breaking the terms of the order is a criminal offence.

Fifteen orders are currently in force — nine against foreign nationals and six against Britons. Suspects are commonly forbidden from associating with certain people or places, using the internet or leaving their house. They are electronically tagged, their phone lines are cut and the security services are entitled to visit their house at any time.

The orders have been the subject of constant litigation since they were imposed last year. In April, hearing the objections of "S", a British man served with a control order, the High Court ruled that they were "conspicuously unfair" and incompatible with the Human Rights Act. In June, six control orders were quashed.

The Court of Appeal largely upheld the High Court decision in July, but the Home Secretary, John Reid, has promised to take the case to the Law Lords.

The Home Office came under attack today from the Shadow Home Secretary, David Davis, who called on the Government to give an emergency statement to the House of Commons about the search for the two missing men. Mr Davis also criticised the Home Office for keeping the escape of the Iraqi suspect secret.

The disappearances only came to light yesterday after the family of the Briton, who escaped a secure mental health unit in Isleworth, west London, said they were afraid for his safety. It is feared that the Iraqi man, who is considered a greater security risk, may have already left the country.

But Mr Davis's request for an emergency statement was turned down by the Speaker of the House, Michael Martin, who said he refused the urgent question "for reasons I don’t have to give to the House".

The Speaker then also refused to acknowledge Mr Davis's attempt to approach the question as a point of order: "I'm not going to allow MPs, even frontbenchers, to try and push a point of order, when they try for an urgent question. As Speaker, I’m always very generous with urgent questions, so when I refuse, I’ve got good reason to do so," he said.

Earlier Mr Davis told the Commons: "On September 11th, the statement from the Minister for Security said, 'There are fifteen control orders currently in force, six of which are in respect of British nationals.' It then outlined details of applications to modify those orders. No mention of a breach of the orders. No mention of an escapee. No mention of the risk to the public. This statement may be true... but it is not the whole truth."