Anthony Barnett (London, OK): I find it hard to believe that someone like Stephen Sedley who has a great record defending human rights has called for everyone's DNA to be held by the authorities in case we commit a crime. It seems he said it to the BBC and their report is here, but it isn't the actual interview. The Guardian carried just a brief report, the Mail, by contrast, saw every aspect of the story, personal and constitutional. Its two page spread included a catch-up on the left-wing judge, a picture of a wealthy father who managed to get his innocent daughter's DNA removed, apparently only the second person to achieve this, and the stories of innocent pensioners and children who had not achieved this and feel they are being treated like criminal suspects, and will be for the rest of their lives. It may be that this is part of Sedley's point, i.e., that it is discrimination to hold some, disproportionately non-white DNA records of the innocent. Therefore, he apparently concludes, "bomb them all". If his quotes are to be believed he saw this only as a serious managerial issue and not one of principle. Unbelievable. It would reduce us to being biological samples of the state. As well as their two-page spread on the story itself the Mail had a leader and a strongly argued article by A.N.Wilson, who concluded,
Risk - whether of crime, or disease, or physical or mental imperfection - is an essential ingredient of the precious gift of freedom.
The leader pointed out that at least 100,000 innocent children are on the police DNA database:
How can this be justified in a society whose government is meant to serve a free people? The answer is not to add the whole nation to the database - but to strike out the profiles of the innocent.
Underlying this is a profound question of the role of the state and government: is the assumption still that they knows best? Labour denies this is any longer its view. That it went out with Old Labour. Well... If this isn't the case then for all Gordon Brown's fine words of the Green Paper he will get hammered on personal liberty by the Tories.
