Protection of Freedoms Bill

The Opposition's new clause 16 simply says that we want Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary to undertake separately an assessment of the importance of CCTV as part of the crime-fighting capability of the police. That mechanism would say, ““We recognise the importance of CCTV.”” I want a clear statement from the Minister and the Government that CCTV is important and that their proposals will not add to the bureaucracy, time and difficulty of putting CCTV cameras in place. Let us go back to basics. The Government say that they want to roll back ““state intrusion””, but I do not believe that capturing a criminal who has just carried out a bank robbery is state intrusion. However, according to the logic of the hon. Member for Cambridge, CCTV cameras are not necessarily a positive thing in those circumstances. His logic is that ““state intrusion”” and CCTV cameras, used in a wide range of circumstances and covering different streets, might not be a positive thing.