Earlier today on The Politics Show the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson defended the government’s position on keeping the DNA records of innocent people.

He said the government’s approach was now in line with European standards, after its previous policy of keeping them indefinitely was ruled to be unlawful under EU law.

In response to the Home Secretary, the Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne criticised the government’s method of tracking criminals, saying that the system it used meant it was “becoming less effective”.

Referring to the DNA database which includes the details of some people who were not convicted of crimes, Chris Huhne said:

“No other country has gone down this route” 

“The real truth about this database is government has all the wrong people on it.”

He urged the importance of striking “a balance between traditional hard won civil liberties and excessive intrusiveness.”

“We could get that balance much better if we put criminals onto the database not the innocent,” he added.

“I can show you at least five other ways which are more cost effective than what the government is doing,” Chris Huhne argued.

Recently, Chris Huhne had revealed that in 2008 there were 2.3million people on the Police National Computer for a conviction, caution, reprimand or warning who were not in the DNA database.

“Among the most serious offenders are those serving long sentences that began before 2002 and they are the most likely not to be on the DNA database,” he said.

“The government’s policy puts the wrong people on the database while leaving some of the most dangerous criminals off it.”