We speak your mind. Enjoy free-thinking comment that champions your values. |  | Charles Hymas Home Affairs Editor | Under Jeremy Corbyn, Labour strongly opposed the idea of using live facial recognition cameras to help tackle crime. Even in the early days of Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership, there was some scepticism.
Now, Labour is fully embracing the technological revolution. It will publish a consultation document today setting out a potential vision to roll out the cameras in crime hotspots in every city, town and village. They could be used to catch criminals of all kinds – from gangsters to burglars, shoplifters to drug dealers.
Under the plans, police would get access to the UK’s passport database of 45 million people, against which they could compare facial images of suspects from CCTV, doorbell or dashcam footage in order to identify them.
Currently, police forces run facial recognition software through the police national database, which only holds information on people who have been arrested.
Other public bodies and private companies such as retailers could be allowed to use facial recognition technology.
The consultation aims to devise a legal framework for the technology so police and the public are “confident” that officers can use it responsibly and effectively, without turning it into a “Big Brother” spy system to monitor people’s everyday activities.
For civil rights campaigners, like Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, Sir Keir’s Government would be committing “historic breaches of Britons’ privacy that you might expect to see in China, but not in a democracy” if the proposal went ahead.
But Sarah Jones, the policing minister, argues that it is the “biggest breakthrough since DNA matching”, and has already “taken thousands of dangerous criminals off our streets”. She added: “I want it as one of the tools that are available to the police. That’s why we want to have some proper parameters so it’s really clear where it can be useful so that it can be used more widely.”
Read the full story here ➤ | | Root made a nervy start against Starc | After 15 minutes of this second Test, it was so easy to think: here we go again, reports Will Macpherson our Cricket Correspondent, from the Gabba.
Mitchell Starc was running amok. Ben Duckett went first ball in the first over, then Ollie Pope went third ball in the second. England were five for two. It seemed England’s refusal to send first XI batsmen to face the pink ball in between Tests had come back to bite them, but Zak Crawley and Joe Root (the two batsmen arguably under the most pressure) started the recovery.
By the end of the first session, England had established a foothold in this day/night Test and the Barmy Army were singing merrily. The central figure was Crawley, who made it to 61 unbeaten at the break before eventually falling for 76. It must have been a lonely, agonising 12 days since Crawley’s Perth pair, but this was a knock of great promise, all clarity and composure.
Crawley will have been grateful that, after much intrigue, Australia left Pat Cummins out. Nathan Lyon was dropped too, the first time he's missed a home Test since 2012. When Starc bowled, Australia threatened. When he did not, England’s batting looked fun for the first time in this frantic series.
Follow the latest updates here ➤
Scores correct as of 7:03am | | Allister Heath Labour was elected on a dishonest manifesto. This Government has lost all legitimacy Continue reading ➤ David Blair Germany’s Putin-pleasing president does not deserve a state visit Continue reading ➤ Jemima Lewis Fabergé eggs are the quintessential festive gift: both hideous and useless Continue reading ➤ Neil McCormick Spotify Wrapped: Is your listening age wrong, or are you in denial? Continue reading ➤ | Never miss a moment. Stay ahead with live news updates in our award-winning app. | | One image reveals what appears to be a dentist chair surrounded by artwork faces of men | | Later today, Lord Hughes of Ombersley, the senior judge who has presided over a long-running public inquiry into Dawn Sturgess’s death, is expected to address some of the many questions that still trouble the people of Salisbury nearly eight years on from the horrific Novichok plot. How did an innocent British mother of three, loved by all who knew her, come to be caught up in the renewed Cold War machinations of the Putin regime eventually leading to her death? Patrick Sawer, our Senior News Reporter, goes back to 2018 to take a closer look. Continue reading ➤ | |  | | The only sources of water are plastic bottles being handed out by workers at collection points | | There are conflicting theories on where the nom de plume “Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells” originated. What is clear, however, is that residents have more reason to be disgusted this week than ever before. For five days and counting, they have been left without running water after a batch of bad chemicals shut down South East Water’s treatment plant at Pembury. The taps have run dry, the shops are shut, and desperate locals have been reduced to fetching plastic bottles from emergency collection points, with 24,000 homes across Kent and East Sussex affected. Abigail Buchanan reports. Continue reading ➤ | | | Fibre can reduce the risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancer, but Liz Hoggard – like 96 per cent of us – rarely consumes the recommended 30g per day. From adding seeds to porridge to replacing rice with beans, she reveals the small tweaks that helped her reach her target.
Continue reading ➤ | | | Katie Alcock was expelled from Girlguiding after questioning a policy allowing biological males to share showers with girls. The organisation hired a professional employment investigator to compile a file on the Lancaster University lecturer, leaving her in tears and her daughter barred from Rainbows. Now that the Guides have, with a “heavy heart” reverted to single-sex spaces in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the definition of a woman under the Equality Act, Alcock exposes the “bad grace” of the announcement and the lingering hostility she faces. Continue reading ➤ | | | | | ‘You’ll be reaching for the Christmas spirits within the first five minutes,’ according to our critic | | ★☆☆☆☆
Like a cold that won’t go away, the Duchess of Sussex is back with an hour-long With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration to guide you through the festive season. Meghan prepares for the holidays with her usual manic intensity, noting that Christmas trees are “able to really encapsulate your family story”. Harry eventually appears (among a bizarre assortment of guests) only to pour scorn on her rather sad festive salad. Continue reading ➤ | | | Two-time Oscar nominee, one half of Hollywood’s hottest couple, box-office hero in Dune and A Complete Unknown… and mysterious Scouse rapper? A wild internet conspiracy theory believes Timothée Chalamet is moonlighting as ESDEEKID, a British drill rapper (who happens to be on course for his first Christmas number one). James Hall sets out all the compelling evidence. Continue reading ➤ | | | It’s (meant to be) the most wonderful time of the year, when the TV channels unveil their Christmas schedules. The 2025 line-up is hardly a vintage showing, but we’ve still been able to compile 12 shows you won’t want to miss over the festive period. They include the return of Claudia Winkleman and The Traitors, back for a fourth non-celebrity run. Other highlights include the Amandaland Christmas special, A Peep Show-themed episode of The Great British Bake Off and a new series, after 10 years, of The Night Manager. Continue reading ➤ Below are two more helpful articles for you this morning: | Festive supermarket champions Our taste test expert Xanthe Clay has been doing the hard graft by sampling the full gamut of essential Christmas treats on the high street to ensure your festive table is free from disappointment.
Her top mince-pie picks from supermarkets include the Waitrose No.1 Brown Butter ones and the M&S Collection half dozen, which were praised for their perfectly baked, light and buttery pastry.
Xanthe has also put shop-bought Christmas cakes through their paces, awarding a joint five-star rating to Lidl and Sainsbury’s, and has named Booths her favourite supermarket for smoked salmon, describing its Strong Oak Scottish slices as “a class act” – ideal for Christmas Day breakfast.
Keep an eye out for Xanthe’s upcoming festive taste tests, including panettone, pigs in blankets and readymade stuffing, all designed to help you make the right choices for a flawless Christmas spread. | How to look 10 years older Every weekday, Orlando Bird, our loyal Reader Correspondent, shares an off-piste topic that has brought out the best of your opinions and stories. Orlando writes...
Instead of making people cry on live TV, Simon Cowell has found a more wholesome way to spend his time. He recently revealed that he’s started going to a clinic where “they actually take your blood, they rinse it, they filter it and then they put it back into your body” – all in the name of looking a bit younger.
Of course, compared with the antics of the biohacking tech bro Bryan Johnson, these anti-ageing measures sound relatively modest. But, wrote Diana Spencer, there is a simpler option available to Mr Cowell: “He should avoid having a beard. The male fad for sporting facial fuzz – often salt-and-pepper – makes them look 10 years older than they are.”
Like pretty much every millennial male, I’ve had a beard (to a greater or lesser extent) for about a decade. I’ve never disputed its ageing effects (though it remains reddish), but in my 20s I didn’t care about looking a bit older. Now I am older, I’m starting to wonder. And as I read Alan Tomlinson’s letter, I was almost convinced to take action. “I sported a short-ish beard for 30 years before deciding to become clean-shaven. It was two weeks before anyone noticed – but once they had, they all agreed I looked 10 years younger. I regret not having taken the plunge earlier.”
But then I read this, from Graham Sullivan: “I sported a beard for a decade before, in my 30s, it became salt- and-peppery. Having decided to remove it, I thought my young children should witness the act as they had never seen me without it. Taking them into the bathroom, I went to work with scissors and razor. On completion, I asked for their verdict. My four-year-old daughter’s response was immediate: ‘Put it back!’” What do you think? Send your responses here, and the most appetising of the bunch will feature in a future edition of From the Editor PM. You can sign up here to read the responses.
Please confirm in your reply that you are happy to be featured and that we have your permission to use your name. | Plan your day with The Telegraph | Set your alarm to catch up with journalists on the Your Say page and listen to their analysis on our latest podcasts.
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In which high-profile London hotel lobby did climate protestors dump manure under the Christmas tree? | | Find as many words as you can in today’s Panagram, including the nine-letter solution. Visit Telegraph Puzzles to play a range of head-scratching games, including PlusWord, Sorted, and Quick, Mini or Cryptic Crosswords.
Yesterday’s Panagram was CHUCKLING. Come back tomorrow for the solution to today’s puzzle. | |
Thank you for reading. Have a fulfilling day and I hope to see you tomorrow. Chris Evans, Editor
P.S. Please let me know what you think of this newsletter. You can email me here. | |
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