More snooping please, we love it

What with David Davis, microchips in wheelie-bins, email monitoring and miscellaneous snooping, we're all supposed to be outraged about the violation of our liberties. Only we aren't. CCTV is extremely popular, and 65 per cent of us back Gordon Brown's plan to abolish habeas corpus. People are cross about Asbos because not enough are being imposed.

How come? It's surely lesser breeds who succumb willingly to bureaucratic dictat and the baleful scrutiny of state functionaries. We British are a nation of steady yeomen, proud of our liberties and ready to defend them to the death, are we not? Er, no.

Complaints about the erosion of civil rights may have been noisy, but they haven't exactly resonated. The progressive elite chunter, but the people remain untroubled. On the contrary, it's pressure from beneath, amplified by the media, that's prompted our rulers to grow ever more repressive.

It's time we acknowledged this, and accepted the unpalatable explanation. To some extent, we do indeed fear the state. However, we fear our fellow citizens a great deal more. Government may be intrusive, but God knows what our neighbours might do to us, given half a chance. So we want the authorities to protect us from them, by whatever means they deem necessary.

Once upon a time, we knew and understood our fellows. We could be confident that if they stepped out of line, they'd feel the brunt of communal disapproval. Misbehaviour attracted stigma, and bobbies clipped the ears of miscreant youths. No longer. Individualism, it's-all-about-me self-indulgence, political correctness and multiculturalism have put paid to that world.

So we want Nanny State to carry a big stick. Knife crime? Mugging? Graffiti? Terrorism? Chewing gum on the pavements? Let's have another government crackdown.

Good luck, David. You're going to need it. ·