Row over police use of cameras criticised

Nigel Morris

Moves to allow police to monitor live the journeys of car drivers via 1,500 congestion-charge cameras in London have proved divisive in the Cabinet and provoked immediate criticism.

A confidential memo to Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, disclosing the plan, and its roll-out across the country, shows it is opposed by the Department for Transport because it fears plans for national road-pricing could be undermined.

Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: “[This is] a Trojan Horse to secure unprecedented access to information on car drivers’ movements without full public scrutiny or debate.”