LONDON, England - June 17, 2008 – In a stunning use of the principles of Orwellian “newspeak”, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has defended the use of closed-circuit television (CCTV), national identification cards, and a DNA database - saying they protect civil liberties.

In a speech to the Institute for Public Policy, a think tank, the Prime Minister said they helped ensure people's right to live free from crime.

He also defended 42-day detention, saying the authorities could not afford a "head-in-the-sand" approach to it.

Both Conservatives and Liberal Democrats said Mr. Brown could not claim to champion freedom when he was attempting to undermine it.

Downing Street has denied that the speech was intended as a response to David Davis - who quit as an MP and shadow home secretary last week to fight a by-election on the single issue of the "strangulation" of British freedoms.

But a spokesman would not say if it was planned before Mr. Davis stepped down last week. Labor has not yet confirmed whether it will stand a candidate against him.

Ed. Note: Sorry to tell you but you do not have a right to be free from crime!  You have a right to defend your life, liberty and property from a criminal, with whatever force is necessary, but you do not have the right to be free from crime.  However, you do have the right to be free from government intrusion into your lives through surveillance cameras, identification cards, and DNA tracking.