Giant purple dinosaurs, giant chickens and CCTV

Unusually, the contest for our Headline of the Day Award has ended in a tie, as the judges found themselves unable split two entries that share a common theme.

So our congratulations go to BBC News for:

Giant purple dinosaur caught fly-tipping on CCTV

and to Sky News for:

CCTV footage shows giant chicken replacing a car

Scottish Lib Dems question use of live facial recognition technology

Embed from Getty Images

From Scottish Legal News:

The Scottish Liberal Democrats have filed 40 parliamentary questions on Police Scotland’s proposed use of live facial recognition in a bid to force the Scottish government to explain how the measures are compatible with equalities and civil liberties concerns.

The party’s justice spokesperson, Liam McArthur MSP, asked the questions after Police Scotland Chief Constable Jo Farrell vowed to utilise artificial intelligence technology and live facial recognition technology as part of the service’s forthcoming six-year strategy, despite police services south of the border facing legal challenges over their usage.

Campaigners have identified a series of problems with the technology, from the possibility of misuse to the propensity for errors, particularly in misidentifying ethnic minorities and women.

Liam McArthur has spoken to the website:

"I am concerned that decisions that dramatically reframe the relationship between the police and the public are being treated as an inevitable consequence of the march of technology.

"There needs to be a compelling need, an appropriate legal basis and a proper public debate before the police can consider moving forward with measures like this. That simply has not happened.

"If the Scottish government share these concerns, then they have been awfully quiet about it. Certainly they are concerns that the Justice Committee heard loudly and clearly in the previous session of parliament.

"Ministers and senior officers need to set out why these decisions are being taken and answer for the consequences."

Liberty has a page on police use of live facial recognition technology with links to numerous briefings and resources.

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"'It's time​ for the police to stop virtue-signalling and start catching robbers and burglars,'’ the home secretary, Suella Braverman, said at the Conservative Party Conference last autumn. 'More PCs, less PC.' It’s not surprising that the government’s most committed culture warrior would use her speech to launch an attack on wokery. What’s strange is that anyone could think that the main problem with the British police is a surfeit of political correctness." Daniel Trilling reviews two books on the problems facing British policing.

Heidi Siegmund Cuda explores how Russia joined forces with our own anti-vaxxers to wage biological warfare by proxy against the West: "In this undeclared cognitive warfare - where the human mind is the battlefield - a global pandemic becomes weaponised and too many people have no inoculations against disinformation."

The UK government’s attempt to frighten people into protecting themselves against Covid was at odds with the scientific advice it was receiving, say Stephen Reicher et al.

"Something sinister is going on with cuteness. Over the last five years, we’ve seen the sudden appearance of cute Facial ID Recognition surveillance, cute government health messaging, cute military propaganda, cute identity wars and even cute robotic elder care." Ewan Morrison on the rise of cute authoritarianism.

John Grindrod on the conundrum that is the green belt: "within it lie some of the most curious buildings in Britain, ghosts of long-lost ways of life, thwarted plans and the secrets of a nation running out of places to hide them."

"Without doubt Steve Winwood stole the show with Ginger a close second.  Winwood sang every song (he wrote most of them, too) and his keyboards dominated throughout."  Stuart Penney was at Blind Faith's Hyde Park debut and he remembers it.

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"There is a lot of common ground between most councillors about the pragmatic methods needed to deliver services and a better future for those they represent. That common ground too often gets dissipated by an unnecessary tribalism and arrogance with people defending their tribe to the end instead of accepting compromise and joint working and rightful involvement." Richard Kemp looks at the new coalitions emerging after this month's local elections.

Maddy Shaw Roberts reports that musicians and music businesses are warning time is up for UK grassroots acts and European orchestras are resistant to booking UK artists because of ‘paperwork and expense’.

"The law remains fully committed to backing the ‘static’ but specifically to the propertied ‘static’. Modern methods of control over space and access to it are not only legal but technological – CCTV and other surveillance, ID cards, swipe cards, fingerprint and face recognition software. Open space in many of our cities appears free and easy, but lots of concourses, squares and plazas in new developments are privately owned, and you can be prevented from protesting, hanging out or doing pretty much anything depending on the power and will of private corporations." mudlark121 surveys 1000 years of laws against travellers, wanderers and trespass

Richard Mabey mourns the debasement of the English hedge.

"One of the new Road Collision Reporting Guidelines stresses that journalists should not use the word 'accident' for a road collision but, instead, use 'crash'. Carlton Reid on new guidelines for journalists.

Alun Harris offers a quick guide to the work of the horror writer Ramsey Campbell.

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"Hammond presented a narrative that explained who the Tories were, what they had done and where they were going that was fathomable and even a little compelling to the objective viewer." Nick Tyrone finds Philip Hammond a more impressive politician than his leader.

Silkie Carlo explains why we should be worried about the mass surveillance of shoppers.

"As the years went by the idea of a confident working class taking its destiny into its own hands - either collectively or through some individual expression of rebellion such as Arthur’s - gradually went out of fashion." James Bloodworth debates the meaning of Alan Sillitoe's novel Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, 60 years after its publication

"To this day the sacrifice of thousands of watermen who worked on Britain’s canals before serving on the front line has yet to be commemorated." Phil Hoad has news of plans to put that right.

Parul Sehgal explains the persistence of the ghost story in American literature: "In the modern ghost story, especially the American kind, something different occurs. Ghosts protest norms - slavery, Jim Crow, mass incarceration - the norms that killed them."

Phil Hoad on the career of Muriel Box - Britain’s most prolific female director you've never heard of.

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"The behaviour in the party at the moment is such as to raise the question of whether a group of people who cannot behave in an inclusive way could really do so if they were in positions of power." Tom Harney comments on a Lib Dem Voice by former MP Adrian Sanders (which is itself worth reading).

Courteney J. O’Connor reviews a new book on surveillance and society: "It is possible to engage in extreme surveillance that would be popularly considered a horrific breach of social etiquette, personal privacy and security without ever contravening the law."

To tackle children's mental health we must transform school culture, argues Natasha Devon.

"Yerevan, to a greater extent than most other cities anywhere in the world, exists with the burden of history on its shoulders." Ido Vock visits the Armenian capital.

"In The Stone Book, a young girl is taken by her father down a series of mine shafts and through a small crack in the rock only large enough for a young child to fit through. Beyond this crack she discovers some ancient cave art. Her father had previously been taken there as a boy by his father." Corse Present reads Alan Garner's miraculous quartet The Stone Book Quartet.

The Gentle Author understands the loneliness of his cat: "When the church offered Schrodinger a refuge, he spent long nights patrolling the empty building in the dark. Whenever he drew unwanted attention from dogs in the churchyard, he could escape through a metal grille into the crypt and sleep among the dusty coffins."

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"It seems very much to be the old Strathclyde’s way or no way at all. That’s a huge mistake. Policing needs in Glasgow are totally different from policing needs in the Highlands and Islands. What next? Tasers in Achiltibuie?" Caron's Musings dissects the paradoxical centralising tendencies of the SNP.

A debate between Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage would be well worth watching, thinks Neil Monnery.

Politics for Novices is not pleased that a group of local businesses is creating a new CCTV system.

"Nairn floated gloriously free of the style wars that periodically consume British architecture, offering instead a passion for buildings and places." Icon Magazine reviews "Ian Nairn, Words in Place" by Gillian Darley and David McKie.

"I could sit occasionally with my pint in the Victoria Bar watching decay set in and wondering when the closure announcement was to be made, but we all know it didn't happen like that." Mike Horne on the transformation of Marylebone station.

IanVisits takes us to Victoria Street in London, where another five floors are being excavated beneath existing office buildings.

More evidence that CCTV makes us feel less secure

A year ago I blogged about research, carried out on a Peabody Trust housing estate in central London, that suggested people feel more anxious in neighbourhoods policed by CCTV cameras. Today at work I came across some more research that reached the same conclusion.

In 2009 the British Psychological Society's Research Digest reported on a recent study:

Dave Williams and Jobuda Ahmed presented 120 participants - shoppers in Hatfield - with pictures of a fictional town centre street scene. When the scene contained both a skinhead and a CCTV camera, the participants, aged between 18 to 70 years, reported raised concern about walking in the scene, compared with when the same scene was either empty, contained a woman with or without a CCTV camera, or a skinhead without a camera. In other words, it was specifically the combination of a skinhead and CCTV that provoked fear - neither had any effect on their own. 

The presence of a CCTV camera seemed to cue participants' prejudices about skinheads, thus inducing fear. This supposition was supported when participants were asked to write a paragraph on a "day in the life of" either the male skinhead or the smartly dressed woman. When a CCTV camera was present in the scene, but not otherwise, participants wrote an account of the skinhead's day that betrayed their prejudices, for example one account stated that he had "outstayed his welcome in the cafe".

Naked Citizens

"In London, every bit of public ground is monitored all the time… every single street. Besides the government, all the different companies and landowners have their own CCTV cameras, so every spot is watched by everybody. In the most monitored city in the world there is one camera for every 14 people. But does this intense surveillance keep Londoners safe?"

More at Journeyman Pictures.

Headline of the day meets On the Buses

Our Headline of the Day comes from the Daily Mirror:

Ticket to ride: Bus driver suspended after CCTV catches him romping with passenger on top deck

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Last week made A Scottish Liberal proud to be a Liberal Democrat.

With Obamacare apparently secured, The American Prospect considers what liberals in the USA should strive for next.

"I was really pleased when residents in my block of flats voted recently against becoming a gated community – or at least against locking the gates we already, unfortunately, have installed. I don’t want to live in something that feels like a prison, when you have to rattle keys to get to your front door, with the gate clanging shut behind you as you walk towards it. And I think that having people around in the communal garden, a pleasant, social environment, as we have now – I regularly say hello to at least 20 of my neighbours, and know some people who use it as a walkthrough – is much better security than a lockdown that screams “something to fear here!" Philobiblon fights back against our self-defeating obsession with security.

Malcolm Noble Mysteries - Market Harborough's leading crime novelist - writes on his positive experience of the regional press and his fears for its future.

You can listen to a talk on Luddism in Lancashire and Cheshire by Richard Holland on Soundcloud.

Landscapism ponders a triptych of ruins around Llanthony Priory.

East Midlands Trains says walk don't run

For the past few weeks East Midlands Trains has been playing a new announcement at its stations. It tells you not to smoke, that you are being observed by CCTV but should keep you luggage with you at all times, and "for your own safety" to walk not run.

It feels as though you have alighted at a high-tech Approved School.

Given the eye-watering cost of rail fares these days, I would like to be treated as a valued customer. But having heard this announcement several dozen times I will settle for being treated like an adult.

CCTV makes people more anxious

After yesterday's suggestion that turning off street lights late at night cuts crime, here is another possibly counterintuitive idea: CCTV increases people's sense of anxiety.

In today's Guardian Anna Minton writes about a study she carried out on a Peabody Trust housing estate in central London:

What we found independently was that, although increased security, and in particular CCTV, was often very popular with residents, it did not necessarily lead to feelings of increased safety, with residents reporting that the presence of CCTV could instead increase anxiety. 

Security measures including gates and internal doors elicited a similar response, with residents illustrating that "defensible space" can increase fear of strangers. "Because of the doors, if you see someone you don't know, there is an element of 'Who is this?'" one resident commented. 

A practitioner added: "The more you secure a block or an estate, the more it gives a message that something is wrong with that estate." 

Incidents of actual crime were barely mentioned. By far the biggest problem was young people hanging around late into the night in the courtyard of the estate, which is surrounded by housing. On a number of occasions the play area had been vandalised. Because the young people in question were either residents or friends of residents, barring access to the estate through the use of gates did not seem sensible. 

The study suggested that high security was offered as a technical response to a complex social problem, which required a different kind of solution. It was clear that residents felt that "knowing people", whether it be caretakers, youth workers or each other, was the key to creating trust.

"Have you washed your hands, Tompkins?" CCTV in schools

Big Brother Watch received a lot of publicity this morning for its report Class of 1984: The extent of CCTV in secondary schools and academies.

That link will take you to the full report, and there is also an article about it on the Big Brother Watch website:

This report highlights an issue that has not been subject to any real public debate and we hope by highlighting the scale of the situation a proper debate can now take place about not only how to regulate CCTV, but also why surveillance continues to increase unchecked when there is still no academic research that suggests it is having a positive impact. 

We make three key recommendations in the report, which are: 

- The Home Office code of practice for CCTV cameras should apply to all publicly funded bodies 

- The Surveillance Camera Commissioner must have the power to enforce the code of practice and penalties for breaching the code must be available 

- The Government should commission an independent review of CCTV use in schools to explore the evidential basis upon which cameras have been installed. This should include ensuring any school using CCTV has appropriate policies in place so teachers and parents are fully aware of why surveillance is being used, when footage can be viewed and by who. 

The surveillance experiment of the past twenty years has failed to reduce crime or improve public safety. As schoolchildren across the country are now expected to accept surveillance for the formative years of their education, it is time for a different approach.

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Liberal Youth has launched Bears for Belarus, a campaign to raise awareness of the Lukashenko dictatorship.

"He was never destructive, but he spoke up when he wasn't happy and spent his time developing ideas. He had that winning combination of the sharpest of minds, the most liberal of hearts and the most determined of mindsets." Caron's Musings brings together some tributes to Donald Gorrie, the former Edinburgh Lib Dem MP who died last week.

"Sure, the 2010 Tory campaign was riddled with mistakes and poor judgments, but that 37% is essentially the Tory ceiling. That’s why Cameron wanted the boundary changes, so he could get a majority next time, and his apparent apathy in allowing the boundary changes to be broken demonstrates the extent to which he has accepted he will never deliver the promised Tory majority." A Brief History of Liberty on David Cameron's problems.

"Surveillance Chess is an art performance for a single recipient: the CCTV operator in his control room. Before the performance begins he has total power over his system: he is the all-seeing, seemingly untouchable and incessant observer of public space in front of his camera. !Mediengruppe Bitnik obtains access to his system and to surveillance images and seizes power. But the invitation the play chess makes it clear that the unfriendly takeover is intended to be friendly."

Would you let your children play in the street? asks the Independent. Until recently, Lucy McDonald wouldn't, but thanks to a joint effort with her neighbours, their pavements have become a playground.

Time has some terrific vintage photographs of London.

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Vince Cable was right to dismiss Adrian Beecroft's proposals to make it easier to sack people, argues Issan Ghazni.

Guy Rundle in the Melbourne newspaper The Age looks at surveillance and the London Olympics: "Two years ago, the London Olympic Committee to smiles all round, unveiled the 2012 Games official mascots, Wenlock and Mandeville - cartoonish aliens, each with one eye in the middle of the head. The committee couldn't have been more chuffed, but pride turned to dismay once the public had a chance to react, pointing out en masse that the duo did indeed symbolise London, but only because the creature resembled the city's most ubiquitous presence, the street CCTV, the beige, rectangular cameras bolted to every street corner, every wall."

Sarah Goodyear on Atlantic Cities says road traffic is the single biggest source of fatality for young people worldwide.

Rethinking Childhood sounds a happier note: "Last week I visited a school where the students can build dens freely, any time they want, during breaks between lessons. In case you were wondering, Berwick Fields Primary School in City of Casey, Victoria, Australia is not a Steiner School, or a progressive private institution. It is a state school (and a large one, with over 1,000 students on roll)."

Urania Cottage, Charles Dickens' home for 'fallen women', is discussed by Revisiting Dickens.

The Widow's World is entertained by The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain and its unique take on Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights.

Leicester is the CCTV capital of Britain

Big Brother Watch has published a new report that shows local authorities have spent £515m on their CCTV operations in the past four years:

There are now at least 51,600 CCTV cameras controlled by local authorities, with five councils now operating more than 1,000 cameras. In comparison, £515m would put an extra 4,121 police constables on the streets – the equivalent of Northumbria police’s entire force.

You can download The Price of Privacy from the pressure group's website.

This is report is of particular interest to citizens of Leicester, as it reveals that their city has become what the Leicester Mercury calls "the CCTV capital of Britain" with more than 2,000 cameras monitoring them:

The city council has spent £3.7 million on new cameras over the past three years, and the number of surveillance cameras now stands at 2,083. It means the authority has more cameras than any other council in the country.

To set this extraordinary sum in context, look at this Mercury report from December of last year:

Plans have been drawn up by Leicester City Council to cut spending on bus services, libraries, festive decorations and homeless hostels – and more cuts will be announced by the council next week. 

Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby has announced draft budget proposals for children's services, housing, transport and neighbourhood services which will save a total of £600,000. 

Bus services and libraries face some of the heaviest cuts – though spending on road maintenance and children in care will increase. 

Next week, a second announcement will reveal even greater cuts to other areas of council spending. 

Sir Peter said: "We're being forced to cut £40 million over the next two years."

Leicester City Council has a horribly difficult situation to deal with, but I wonder if this attempt to curb crime and disorder by funding more and more cameras while cutting other services is not self-defeating. Public order comes from citizens  - whether they are in the public sector, the private or somewhere in between - going about their lawful business and naturally keeping an eye on what is going on, not from more and more heroic attempts at public surveillance.

And don't think that Leicester's cameras are confined to the city centre. As I showed 18 months ago, you can find them at the top of tall metal poles in areas of council housing miles into the outskirts.

Still, maybe it is appropriate that a city where 52 of the 54 councillors are from the Labour Party should look like something from beyond the old Iron Curtain?

Everyday life in Labour Camden

"Who the hell do Camden Council think they are?" asks Big Smoke.

With good reason, if you watch his video.

Thanks to Liberal Conspiracy.

Later. According to the Daily Telegraph, Camden says that the voice was activated  by mistake and will be turned off.

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Disgruntled Radical writes to the Liberal Democrat conference team at Cowley Street (as it then was): "Thanks for your message. I attend conference because Yeovil Liberal Democrats elected me, not because the police allow me to. That’s according to our party constitution." He may not enjoy the conference that much when he gets there.

Gareth Epps points out that there will be a record number of set-piece speeches and fewer debates this year.

Predicatable Paradox is worried that, judging by then answers he gave during his visit to Glagow, Nick Clegg has not grasped the immensity of the challenge now facing the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

"'Secure Beneath the Watchful Eyes' - the 2002 Transport for London posters that resemble the front cover of a Philip K. Dick paperback - has a distinctly Juche ring to it, resonant of Bradley K Martin's authoritative title on North Korea: Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader. Which should come as no surprise, given that Britain has more CCTV cameras per capita than North Korea does." Sophie FitzMaurice has written a powerful post for The Staggers (the New Statesman's rolling blog) on the powerful and questionable imagery used in today's security posters.

Liberal Burblings thinks it is time Eggheads was scrambled - or something like that. You may care to insert your own egg-related pun here.

Rare plants found at Dungeness have been providing inspiration to a local artist, reports the RSPB Community site. "Just one more reason why we must protect this special place from developments such as the proposed expansion of neighborouing Lydd Airport."

Simon Hoggart and the way we live now

How quickly we have become accustomed to being treated like cattle.

Here is Simon Hoggart writing in the Guardian this morning:

Coming home the other day we found ourselves in one of those endless lines waiting for immigration. But a TV screen told us that, as they had little camera logos on the front, we possessed e-passports and could jump the queue.

So I stood at the gate, pushed my passport on to the scanner, and waited for a minute or so while brilliant lights shone in my face.

And, having satisfied itself that the ugly mug in front of it was the same as the grumpy individual on the passport, the machine let me into the UK.

The sad thing is that Hoggart is not complaining about his treatment. He is praising the technology and even preening himself a little on receiving preferential treatment.