Officers verify matches on the ground. Scans are deleted within seconds. The force stresses fairness, proportionality and non-discrimination. This is policing technology being deployed cautiously, transparently and within existing legal boundaries.

*Unfortunately, the very same BBC did not - once again in line with their embargo on criticising Tory 14 years of chaos - refused to "Go Down Memory Lane" as they called it?

Yet the Conservatives now claim the UK needs a mandatory national requirement for officers to run every suspect image through facial-recognition software.

1/. They want compulsory follow-ups on geo-tagged stolen devices. They want mandatory tracing of stolen goods sold online.

2/. They want the Home Secretary to regain powers their own party removed in 2014. *They call this “Take Back Our Streets”.

*But what they are actually proposing is Take Back Our Own Policy Failures*

Just what kind of mindless leadership by Kemi Badenoch does this Tory party continually offer the UK as an alternative government - after 14 years of the same leadership from their previous 5 chaotic Leaders:

A/. May (devoted her entire time to get Brexit done - and failed)

B/. Cameron (enabled Brexit then walked away)

C/. Johnson (created Brexit and partygate)

D/. Truss (cost the UK billions in her flawed mini-termed time in office - coming 2nd to a lettuce),

E/. Sunak (bringing his infamous 'Integrity, professionalism and accountability' and cost £billions during Covid).

For the entire14 years, the Conservatives refused to create a national facial-recognition strategy.

1/. They authorised pilots, trials and experiments

2/. But never legislated safeguards, standards or oversight.

3/. They expanded a 10-million-image database without public debate.

4/. They ignored court warnings about legal grey zones.

5/. They left usage optional, inconsistent and dependent on local leadership.

6/. They weakened Home Office authority by transferring operational direction to the College of Policing.

*Today, Badenoch is demanding the powers they themselves dismantled*

The BBC’s Nottinghamshire report shows policing technology already being used responsibly, with strict controls, deletion rules and officer verification. It is cautious, proportionate and operationally grounded.

The Conservative announcement, by contrast, is political theatre — a sudden escalation designed to look decisive after years of indecision.

This is the same pattern seen in migration policy. When the data improves, rhetoric escalates. When operational reality stabilises, political messaging intensifies. When systems begin to work, narratives must shift to maintain relevance. The Conservatives are not unveiling a new policing vision. They are attempting to rewrite their own record.

*The Conservatives had 14 years to build a national framework and refused - and now it's just too late*

Britain does not need Conservative Party political panic disguised as policy. It needs honesty about what has been done, what has not been done, and why the party demanding mandatory facial recognition today failed to legislate it for over a decade.

What it 'would' like would be an 'overdue' apology that they should have made after they were thrown out by the British people 2 years ago.