Senior Judge misguided on database say Liberal Democrats

11.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 6th Sep 2007

Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Nick Clegg has denounced a Senior Judge's call for the expansion of the UK DNA database as 'misguided'. At present, over four million profiles are held on a nationwide criminal database, which the Home Office claim has helped solve complex criminal cases. The largest of its kind in the world, it is reported to be growing at a rate of 30,000 samples a month, taken from suspects at crime scenes. There has already been criticism of the present system as people who are found innocent usually cannot get their details removed.

Nick Clegg said "Whilst Lord Justice Sedley's total disregard for concerns about privacy and civil liberties is misplaced, at least he has the honesty to put forward a suggestion for a universal DNA database. There is no earthly reason why someone who has committed no crime should be on the database in the first place, yet the Government is shoving thousands of innocent people's DNA details on to the database every month. This mealy-mouthed approach to an issue of fundamental principle will only exacerbate public concerns about the onward march to a surveillance state."