POLICE in London have revealed that one man is responsible for 97 per cent of street muggings in the city.
He is described as being slightly blurry and out of focus..... Of course that is not true but highlights once again you can’t believe everything you read.
So when you are told CCTV is the best thing since bread, remind yourself despite spending millions on cameras in London, which has more than any other city on the planet, in 97 per cent of cases the picture on the camera is not good enough to catch and prosecute street muggers.
In this country Big Brother is watching us and it is no laughing matter – rather like the TV series of the same name!
This week we have the news that Tendring Council has been using security powers to conduct surveillance on people who might be rogue taxi drivers.
On one hand unlicensed drivers represent a potential threat to the public and deserve to be prosecuted, but on the other hand it is a little alarming to think council employees are running around like something out of MI6.
In other counties, these powers have apparently been used by councils to launch detailed surveillance operations to check parents actually live where they say they do on school place application forms.
We are not talking about popping round and asking them – we are taking teams of hidden operatives saying things like “whisky tango delta, the owl has flown the coop, over.” However, what is even more alarming is the fact, according to some commentators, under current legislation there are 266 reasons why the Government can enter your house, by force if necessary.
Civil Rights campaigners say the Government is eating away at our civil liberties and the country is sleeping through it. Supporters of ID cards and the like say such powers play a crucial role in keeping us safe.
However, the question has to be asked, at what stage do police and Government powers, which are meant to protect democracy, actually start eroding it?