Playing Tag

Despite the departure of Chris Graybeing, the Ministry for Profitable Incarceration has lost none of Whitehall's famously assured touch with new techno-fangled jiggery-snoopery. Graybeing promised Parliament that satellite tracking tags would be in use on dangerous and repeat offenders by the end of 2014, doubtless with a view to infesting the whole population within a month or so. As one might expect given the intellectual capacity and moral character of the erstwhile Minister for Book-Banning and Heterosexual Hostelry, it has now emerged that there will be a year's delay, partly because the necessary infrastructure has not been put in place and partly because an attempt to rush a few tags into use as a fig-leaf to cover the little prick's latest flop has resulted in an unseemly squabble over intellectual property rights. On the bright side, the delay does mean that those famously honest people at Serco and G4S may have their contract extended again, so that they can continue their sterling efforts for the profit of many and at nobody's expense but the taxpayer's.