Brown defends DNA database and CCTV roll-out as he rejects Cameron's claim that Britain has a 'broken society'

* Brown defends DNA database and CCTV extension
* PM accuses Tories of ramping up fear of crime
* He tells police to get bobbies back on the beat
* Don't blame red tape, forces are told

Gordon Brown defended the controversial DNA database and plans to extend CCTV today as he put the fear of crime and yobbery at the heart of the election campaign.

The Prime Minister attacked the Tories' opposition of the CCTV roll-out and the retention of DNA samples from people arrested but not convicted.

In a major speech on law and order, he promised that both would be 'on the ballot paper' in the coming election.

He also risked a row with the police by promising to name and shame forces which are not getting officers out on the beat.

Speaking to an audience of police officers in Reading, he said he wanted policing to be more 'visible' with officers spending 80 per cent of their time on patrol.

The pledge came as he set out new measures to tackle anti-social behaviour and countered David Cameron's claim that Britain has a 'broken society'.

Mr Brown branded the bleak claim a 'fiction' and accused the Tories of ramping up the fear of crime by 'abusing' statistics.

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State to 'spy' on every phone call, email and web search

All telecoms companies and internet service providers will be required by law to keep a record of every customer’s personal communications, showing who they have contacted, when and where, as well as the websites they have visited.

Despite widespread opposition to the increasing amount of surveillance in Britain, 653 public bodies will be given access to the information, including police, local councils, the Financial Services Authority, the ambulance service, fire authorities and even prison governors.

They will not require the permission of a judge or a magistrate to obtain the information, but simply the authorisation of a senior police officer or the equivalent of a deputy head of department at a local authority.

Ministers had originally wanted to store the information on a single government-run database, but chose not to because of privacy concerns.

However the Government announced yesterday it was pressing ahead with privately held “Big Brother” databases that opposition leaders said amounted to “state-spying” and a form of “covert surveillance” on the public.

It is doing so despite its own consultation showing that it has little public support.

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Town halls hire citizen snoopers as young as SEVEN to spy on neighbours and report wrongs.

Children as young as seven are being recruited by councils to act as 'citizen snoopers'.

The 'environment volunteers' will report on litter louts, noisy neighbours - and even families putting their rubbish out on the wrong day.

There are currently almost 9,000 people signed up to the schemes. More are likely to be recruited in the coming months.

Controversially, some councils are running 'junior' schemes which are recruiting children.

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Councils using surveillance powers

Wide-ranging surveillance powers introduced to tackle terrorism and serious crime are being used regularly by councils to tackle relatively minor problems, according to figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

Among 115 councils which responded to inquiries from the Sunday Telegraph, some 89 said they had instigated investigations under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa) over the past year, with the number of cases over the course of 12 months reaching at least 867.

The powers were used to tackle problems like anti-social behaviour, noise nuisance, benefit fraud and dog fouling.

Some councils recruited children to go into shops wired up with secret recording equipment to detect under-age sales of alcohol or cigarettes.

When Ripa was passed by Parliament in 2000, its powers to conduct surveillance operations and intercept communications were available to only a handful of organisations, including the police and security services. But former home secretary David Blunkett extended the list in 2003 to include a wide range of bodies, including councils.

Durham County Council was the biggest user of Ripa powers over the past year, with just over 100 investigations launched during the period, according to the figures obtained by the Sunday Telegraph. Newcastle City Council used the powers 82 times and Middlesbrough Council 70 times.

Some councils told the paper they had placed houses under video surveillance, while others said council staff had followed residents to see whether they were working while claiming benefit.

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