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Every household in Britain has forked out the equivalent of £800 each to support Britain’s ‘surveillance society,’ a report said yesterday. Overall, the government has poured in almost £20billion to fund the technologies - mainly the DNA database, the identity cards scheme and CCTV cameras. The current ask of the taxpayer of £19.8bn also includes the cost of troubled ‘Chip and Bin’ schemes and the misuse of anti-terrorism laws by local authorities. Regardless of individual taxpayers’ views on each of the measures, brought in to tackle terrorism, the report set out to highlight their cost and effectiveness. As the “stakes couldn’t be higher over terrorism and the appropriate response”, the TaxPayers Alliance extended its research to the costs of dealing with detected threats. The TPA said the total cost to taxpayers, including welfare benefits, legal appeals and future imprisonment, of seven “real extremists” like Abu Hamza and Abu Qatada is £5m. The group said the figure is proof of the “government’s failure to deal” with apprehended threats efficiently and cost effectively, and suggested more targeted alternatives. Turning to actual proposals, the TPA doubted whether the identity cards scheme would cut terrorism and fraud, as the government claims, and would be technologically feasible on the scale proposed. Pointing to the failure of five state-run IT schemes, the group said the government’s “appalling record” in implementing IT projects does not bode well for any future identity scheme. However, ministers will dispute the scheme will cost the £19bn the TPA suggested; a figure based on estimates from the London School of Economics, which insists the Home Office’s more conservative calculations are unrealistic. Jul 8, 2008 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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