Innocent until proven guilty?

BBC News - Jo Yeates murder case: MP backs DNA testing

I once had pub argument. It wasn't a very good argument because I was pissed. As a newt. It's all a bit misty now but I think I was reacting to a totally reasonable comment with some vitriolic anti-logic that made no sense whatsoever. I remember being so outranged by one particular point that I shot one leg out from under the table in order to made a counter point and banged my knee. It hurt quite a lot. It is from this episode, and many others like it, that I have learned not to make knee jerk reactions. Or at least, I try not to. Most often they don't help, by their nature they are made in haste soon after the event or situation to which they pertain.

I am just a normal(ish) everyday citizen. I'd expect a well educated MP to have an even keener sense of managing ones mouth. Step forward Bristol East Labour MP Kerry McCarthy. She presented the entirely reasonable and well thought out idea that, in the hunt for the killer of Jo Yeates, ALL MEN IN BRISTOL SHOULD BE DNA TESTED. You read that correctly. All. Men. In. Bristol. Jesus wept like a little baby.

Just for giggles, shall we run this idea under the soothing cold water tap of logic?

At the count of the last census, there were 208,500 men resident in Bristol. A DNS test takes upto 24 hours, just for the labwork. Never mind the collection of the sample, administration and analysis. Let us be charitable and say that there are 6 person hours of administration and 6 person hours of scientific analysis. 12 hours per sample.

That would be, um, tap tap tapity tap on the calculator... 2.5 million person hours. Or 104250 person days. Or 285 person years.

And then there are the civil rights issues brought to light with such a wide ranging tactic. That's a nasty can of worms right there. I wonder if the police would "accidentally" keep the DNA records?

All for the possibility to solve a single murder.

Next time Kerry is up for election, does someone, anyone, want to remind her of her comment? The British public should expect, and deserve, better from their elected representatives.