pay attention folks: this is the most chilling thing i’ve heard a politician say (and considering our president, that’s saying something)

i usually try to forget that i voluntarily live in a country where everyone is considered guilty until proven innocent – because that’s really the rationale behind so much of the u.k.’s law enforcement. cctv cameras exists because the average citizen on the street *might* commit a crime. speed cameras are there because you *probably* will commit some traffic infraction. t.v. licensing enforcement officers come to your doorstep because you *probably* own a television.

and already they take and keep your dna sample even if you’re falsely arrested. if the police apprehend the wrong person, or you are falsely accused you are still a likely suspect for the rest of your life and no longer allowed even the privacy of your most basic cellular information. you may not know if you have the breast cancer gene, or if you’ll go bald at 40 because your mother has passed along that trait – but the police do.

but even this egregious infringement of the most basic right to privacy over one’s body pales in comparison to the evil proposition mr. blair has put forth. which is, in a nutshell: let’s treat everyone like a criminal. every innocent grandmother, every newborn baby, every good samaritan… let’s do away with even the most tacit notion of innocence, and treat them all like potential murderers.

that’s not the scariest bit.

the scariest bit is that if they were suggesting keeping a database of sphincter photos as a potential means of using “technological advances to reopen thousands of unresolved ‘cold cases’”, i have absolutely no doubt that most of britain would be lining up to spread their cheeks for the camera.

the scariest bit is that “The UK has the largest database in the world and is drawing attention from countries throughout Europe keen to learn from its experience”.

mr. blair you will not get so much as a single eyelash from me. i will move as far away as humanly possible before i give you a cheek swab.

and in case i left any doubt as to my opinion on you and your stinkin’ database… well you can kiss my *other* big fat white cheeks.

(edited to add j’s response: grabs his crotch and says “i got ya dna sample right here”. now i ask you, how charming is my husband?)

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dna, crime, database, dna database, tony blair, law enforcement, civil rights