Comment: This Week on 'the Surveillance State'

There was a really interesting discussion of the DNA Database and the prospect of the 'Surveillance State' on UK politics show This Week last night. The show's hosts include MPs Diane Abbott (Labour) and Michael Portillo (Conservative).

Nobody wanted to defend the increased use of surveillance, and the (to my mind crucial) issue of the chilling effect on civic engagement got an airing, but what I found really interesting was the analysis of politician's (lack of) role in this process. In particular Abbott focused on the fact that very few of the measures discussed have actually had a chance to be debated by the legislature, while recent ministers in the executive see their role as arguing for government policy rather than running their government departments, leaving career civil servants a lot of influence over day to day governance.

Portillo makes another interesting claim: politicians tend to be risk averse, and thus much of what looks like an aggressive pursuit of 'a surveillance state' is rather politicians wishing to avoid any possibility of criticism or sense of liability for occasions where a criminal can't be caught who might have been with the help of CCTV, or the DNA database say. It is because the argument against increases in surveillance is more difficult to make, that Britain has drifted in this direction, rather than because this necessarily reflects the politicians' assessments of the principles involved.