Yvette Cooper sparked fury on BBC Breakfast (Image: Getty)
BBC Breakfast fans were fuming over a segment involving home secretary Yvette Cooper, as she discussed the rollout of more facial recognition vans across the UK. The Labour MP sparked criticism from viewers, who fumed it was “no use” and accused her of turning the country into a dystopia akin to George Orwell’s 1984.
Cooper explained: “At the moment we’ve seen it being used to identify the most serious sex offenders or people wanted for the most serious crimes who, maybe, the police have not been able to find. And they are wanted for appearances in court, they’re wanted for the most serious offences and this is helping them in order to be able to find and catch those criminals.”
But furious fans took to X, with one tweeting: “It’s all very well finding and catching criminals, but it’s not a lot of use when the justice system is so rubbish nothing ever happens to them.”
Another agreed: “What’s the point of having them if they will only release the criminals way before the end of their sentence due to ‘overcrowding’?”
While a third echoed: “What is the failure rate of this ‘facial recognition’ tech? How many people were falsely identified as criminals?”
Live facial recognition vans are being rolled out (Image: Getty)
Another viewer said: “How will facial recognition work on those who wear masks and full facial coverings? It won’t!”
According to the government, the technology has so far been used to make 580 arrests across 12 months in London, including that of 52 registered sex offenders who breached their conditions. It was first used in England and Wales in 2017, during a football match in Cardiff.
Now ten vans are being funded across seven police forces in Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Bedfordshire, Surrey, Sussex, Thames Valley and Hampshire. The technology is also in use in South Wales, London and Essex.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are believed to be “absolutely over the moon” after it was revealed they had a secured a new Netflix deal. The couple yesterday signed a new “multi-year” contract with the streaming giant, however, it is understood to be worth much less for the pair than their previous contract. A source told Sky that the Sussexes were “over the moon” to get the deal. Meghan said in a statement that she and Harry are “proud” and “inspired” to extend their “creative partnership”. Despite the delightful news for the former royal couple, Piers Morgan weighed in on the update as he addressed the news on social media platform X on Tuesday.
The 60-year-old reposted a tweet from the official account of Have I Got News For You. Sharing a promotional photo from With Love, Meghan, the caption read: “Netflix have signed a new deal that gives them ‘first refusal’ on Harry and Meghan’s show ideas, frustrating rival streamers who wanted to have the rights to say no first.”
Piers Morgan reposted a tweet on Have I Got News For You’s official account (Image: X/TWITTER/PIERS MORGAN)
His swipe comes after it was announced Harry and Meghan’s new ‘first look deal’ means that Netflix will still get first refusal.
The streaming platform will retain the exclusive rights to view and potentially take on the projects created by Archewell Productions – but if they ultimately decline then the concept can be offered elsewhere.
The couple’s new output will include a second season of the Duchess’s With Love, Meghan lifestyle show later this month, as well as a Christmas special in December.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry will be back on the small screen (Image: Getty)
The Sussexes are also working on Masaka Kids, A Rhythm Within – a documentary about orphaned children in Uganda, where the “shadows of the HIV/Aids crisis linger”.
There is also “active development” on other projects with Netflix which “span a variety of content genres”, including an adaptation of romantic novel Meet Me At The Lake.
The news comes after previous reports suggested Meghan’s Netflix deal with the streamer was “d3ad”
