London Olympics terror threat used to vastly increase surveillance powers

According to a memo leaked to the Daily Telegraph, Home Office officials are planning to expand the police DNA database to identify suspects and use greater powers to track individuals through advanced closed circuit television (CCTV) technology and the Oyster card used by millions of people on Londons bus and rail network.

The memo discusses different means the government could use to persuade the British public to accept these measures. It asks, To what extent should the expectation of liberty be eroded by legitimate intrusions in the interests of security of the wider public? and concludes, Increasing [public] support could be possible through the piloting of certain approaches in high-profile ways such as the London Olympics.

To that end, ministers, police chiefs and officials have stepped up their demands for more security measures, utilising the Games. Last month, Lord Dear, the former Scotland Yard head of operations, made a public announcement expressing his doubts over present police capabilities to deal with the event. He said that the police force is too short of manpower to deal with the extra security needed and likened it to a Sixties car in the 21st century, adding, If the model is flawed now, it will certainly be flawed in four years time.

Its fairly obvious to anyone that major terrorist groups will not be particularly interested in attacking the Beijing Olympics, Dear said. But in four years time they will have the London Olympics as a target and we need to be best positioned to counter that well in time.

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