Tim Loughton and ClassWatch

You may not have heard of a company called ClassWatch – but if you've got a child of school age, the chances are that Classwatch has an eye on your family. They install CCTV in classrooms. Have a look at their website – under "technology" you can see the way they install surveillance (including listening devices) in different classroom layouts.

In short, it's a company that is at the forefront of intruding into children’s privacy in this country.

Tim Loughton, the Conservative MP and now Children's Minister, was Director of the Company. I say "was". Massive hat tip to our old mate Dizzy, who spotted the position declared in the Register of Members' Interests and wrote about it. Having read Dizzy's piece yesterday, I asked Loughton's office about it. They'd get back to me, they said. They didn't. The press asked them. Would you Adam and Eve it, the office said – he gave that up this very day!

And quite right too. Loughton could not plausibly hold onto a directorship of this company when appointed Education Minister in a Government which pledged to roll back the surveillance state. He had to give up one or the other. Just in time, he did.

But there's a final wrinkle. If you read the write-up about his departure, you'll see that it's claimed that Loughton never received income from his role with the company. Not so, says the Register of Members' Interests, as Dizzy points out. Hmm…

By Alex Deane