Now there's a surprise.........................not!

Politicians and the Police keep proclaiming that cctv makes life safer, that people feel more secure when they are being monitored, well people might, however the facts tell a different story as to how safe you actually are.

1,000 cameras 'solve one crime'

Only one crime was solved by each 1,000 CCTV cameras in London last year, a report into the city's surveillance network has claimed.

The internal police report found the million-plus cameras in London rarely help catch criminals.

In one month CCTV helped capture just eight out of 269 suspected robbers.

David Davis MP, the former shadow home secretary, said: "It should provoke a long overdue rethink on where the crime prevention budget is being spent."

He added: "CCTV leads to massive expense and minimum effectiveness.

"It creates a huge intrusion on privacy, yet provides little or no improvement in security.

Now bearing in mind that the UK is the most cctv'd nation in the western hemisphere and there are plans to monitor inside peoples homes. Also that more than 500,000 emails are intercepted and read every year (about 1 every 60 seconds) and that local councils use the RIPA act (designed for terrorism prevention) to snoop on the general public to make sure they live in a schools catchment area or are putting the right rubbish in the right bins.

• Fly-tipping yes, dog poo no - Jacqui promises Ripa changes (17 December 2008)

  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/17/ripa_dna/

• RIPA ruling closes encryption key loophole (14 October 2008)

  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/14/ripa_self_incrimination_ruling/

• Bury council carries can over spycam binmen (10 September 2008)

  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/10/ripa_bury_council/

• Tories call for more freedom for snoopers (12 August 2008)

  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/12/tory_ripa_reform/

• UK.gov dishes out £19m for comms snoop data silos (6 August 2008)

  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/06/data_retention_grant_spending/

• UK.gov plans central database for all your communications (20 May 2008)

  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/05/20/central_government_database_proposed/

• Police go slow with encryption key terror powers (5 May 2008)

  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/05/05/ripa_encryption_section_49_figures/

• Spy regs used against dogs, litterbugs (28 April 2008)

  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/28/ripa_council_dog_fouling/

• Local council uses snooping laws to spy on three-year-old (11 April 2008)

  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/11/poole_council_ripa/

• UK snoop charter: we're already getting all the data anyway (18 June 2002)

  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/06/18/uk_snoop_charter_were_already/

You have to wonder just when the tipping point will come, when people will finally take to the streets and say enough is enough. I don't even think it will be a major incident, just a little straw breaking the camels back and suddenly the politicians and jobsworths will discover what people power is all about and who is actually in charge.

Can't come too soon.