The government places CCTV in 20,000 homes

With uncanny resemblance to the detail of Orwell's visionary novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, Childrens Secretary Ed Balls is placing CCTV cameras in 20,000 British homes. The cameras will monitor families and in a trademark obliteration of the public-private boundary, security guards will be hired to carry out home checks.

The similarity with Orwell is striking. Wikipedia describes the Telescreen thus:

Telescreens are featured in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. They are television and security camera-like devices used by the ruling Party in Oceania to keep its subjects under constant surveillance, thus eliminating the chance of secret conspiracies against Oceania.

Modern Britain is reported in last weekend's Sunday Express thus:

The Children’s Secretary set out £400million plans to put 20,000 problem families under 24-hour CCTV super-vision in their own homes.

They will be monitored to ensure that children attend school, go to bed on time and eat proper meals.

Private security guards will also be sent round to carry out home checks, while parents will be given help to combat drug and alcohol addiction.

The main difference is one of scope. In Nineteen Eighty-Four all party members and some of the proletarians had telescreens. Here, only some of the prols have them. But the trend is clear. Already, 2,000 homes have these telescreens. The secretary of state for children is now increasing the number tenfold to 20,000.

It is instructive to look at the language used to legitimate these cameras. These "Family intervention projects", as they are euphemistically called, are termed "support", conveying the impression of a populace struggling to obey orders and a state simply trying to help. Perhaps worried that we might see this as something else, Mr. Balls iterated the key term twice in as many sentences.

"This is pretty tough and non-negotiable support for families to get to the root of the problem. There should be Family Intervention Projects in every local authority area because every area has families that need support."

Fortunately, however, due to the merits of our democracy, a broad range of views is availalbe in our legislative chamber. Mr. Balls' opposite number, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling set the tone of dissenting opinion. "This is all much too little, much too late", he said.

Read it for yourself in the Sunday Express.

I first came across this story on grassroots techy news and discussion site "Slashdot".You can read the debate here.