The Times Crime and Justice Commission was established last year, with its mission statement being to…
And today is that long-promised glorious golden day where they reveal their findings. The white smoke has gone up and we get to witness the result of their long hours of toil.
How are we going to fix everything?
Let’s take a look at the complete list, with some helpful annotations:
Digital ID for everybody! It’s going to solve every problem! We’ve talked this to death, it was always going to be in here.
That’s about surveillance. “Data” means your private data which they will get from social media companies
Again, FRT was always going to feature. I’m not sure what “other artificial intelligence tools” means, but the vagueness is likely the point. “Efficiency” is the word doing the heavy-lifting in that sentence, intended to capture the pro-MAGA, pro-Musk UK crowd.
That’s just throwing something out for the “other side”. So far it’s all just more powers for the police and courts, this adds some faux accountability framework into the mix to make it look fair.
Same as above, with some extra seasoning for the digital identity sales pitch thrown in.
This is about replacing trial by jury, and that’s all it’s about. It’s something they’ve been wanting to do for years and keep making excuses to try.
Not sure what this means in real terms, but any use “common sense” in this kind of document should always raise an eyebrow. As should the idea of “expanded use of house arrest”.
No idea what this means yet. Could be about more prison-based work programs (a la private prisons in the US), could just be fluff between important parts.
And we end on a flat note, because I’m not sure what the broader implications of this would be yet. Could be more soft-sounding padding to water down the tyranny, could be something darker. I guess we’ll find out.
So, list completed, let’s review. how are we going to fix everything?
We’re going to replace jury trials.
We’re going remove online anonymity and legally limit access to social media
We’re going introduce facial recognition technology.
And we’re going to implement mandatory digital identity.
Yes, to the surprise of absolutely nobody, the report’s much-anticipated list of “recommendations” amounts to “we should do everything we’ve been planning to do for years”.
Now, some people might argue “it doesn’t matter what this commission recommends, they aren’t officially in power”. And that might be a fair point if being “in power” really meant anything.
Besides, the Lord Chancellor has already said that some of these recommendations will likely be made law in the near future.
Shall we try and guess which ones?
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