Long term readers will have realised that I am not exactly a staunch Monarchist (though not necessarily a Republican – I’m happy to have a Royal family for tourist purposes, I just wish they had no actual connection (even if it is already only really rubber stamping certain procedures)), similarly I tend to view the house of Lords as being an arcane institution that is a hangover from near feudal times. Whilst those that enter the house as life peers (as opposed to hereditary peers that have a seat simply because there Great^x Grandfather owned a third of Staffordshire at one point) are often there because they have experience in certain areas (or they donated a lump sum to a political party 🙁 ), the hereditary peers are often seen as being even more out of touch with modern day reality than judges even!
Well it looks as though common sense has won the day (in that House at least, shame about the commons…) as the BBC has reported the Lords have backed an amendment to the law that would require DNA records to be deleted from the national database should an innocent person request. Of course, the House of Commons will not pass this amendment, but it is good to see the Lords actually backing a sensible idea. Whilst you can argue over whether convicted criminals should have their DNA eventually removed, after serving their sentence, the idea that innocent people who have their DNA profiled and stored should not be able to request that data’s removal does not seem right – as the article states, this is effectively a National DNA Database through the back door, bypassing any new laws that would otherwise have to be drawn up.