Via Kable, “Home Office minister Meg Hillier has insisted on the need to debate the future of the National DNA Database. Responding to parliamentary questions from two Conservative MPs on 15 October 2007, Hillier said the growth of the database, which now holds records of more than 4m people, has made a debate on its future development necessary.”

Benefits to society so far: “Hillier claimed that the database had been used to solve 452 homicides, 644 rapes and more than 8,000 domestic burglaries.”

Example of possible downsides: Tory MP Stephen Crabb “highlighted the case of 75 year old Geoffrey Orchard, who was wrongfully arrested and received a written apology from the police, but who remains unable to get his DNA information removed from the system.”

So let’s have the debate. I suggest on the BBC (they may be looking for cheap programming these days). Let’s by all means have some of the great and the good participate. But let’s also have some of the Awkward Squad and some ordinary citizens as well.