British intelligence reports have earlier warned that UK is a prime target of al-Qaeda-linked extremists.
Britain plans to use unmanned spyplanes like those used to track al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorists in the restive areas of northern Pakistan for surveillance operations in the UK, a move likely to spark a row with liberals and human rights activists accusing the Labour government of expanding the 'Big Brother' state.
British intelligence reports have earlier warned that UK is a prime target of al-Qaeda-linked extremists. Counter-terrorism measures for a 'Big Brother' giant database were first announced by prime minister Gordon Brown in February last year under the 'Intercept Modernisation Programme'.
Plans to introduce the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is outlined in the Home Office's Science and Innovation Strategy. The British Home Office has suggested that the remote-controlled drones could be used to help security forces track criminals, and gather evidence without putting officers at risk, the Daily Telegraph reported.
The miniature aircraft could be fitted with cameras and heat-seeking equipment, allowing security forces to carry out surveillance operations on British homes from a control room.
However, their use is likely to provoke opposition from people sceptical of Britain's increasing use of surveillance equipment, who fear they represent yet another example of the expansion of a 'Big Brother' state, the report in the British daily said. There are also safety concerns over the devices.
The Labour government's effort to push ahead with counter-terrorism plans had sparked an outcry after an intelligence report last November warned that secret cells of al-Qaeda extremists based in London, Birmingham and Luton were planning attacks in the UK.
The government's terrorism watchdog had expressed alarm over the measure to create a 'Big Brother' giant database to keep a tab on the activities of Britons.
"As a raw idea it is awful," said Lord Carlile of Berriew QC, the independent reviewer of anti-terrorist laws. He had described the government's recent track record on handling public data as an "unhappy one", and said that searches of a new database should only be carried out with the authority of a court warrant.
It had also caused alarm among liberals who alleged that it would give the state unprecedented access into the lives of its citizens. Shami Chakrabarti, director of the human rights group Liberty, flayed the government for intruding into citizens' privacy.
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