The House of Commons today endorsed a sweeping change for law enforcement in Great Britain by approving the creation of a new crime-fighting agency, similar to our F.B.I. It sounds just awful:

The creation of a new "British FBI" to combat organised crime, with informants being offered reduced sentences to snitch on their gangland bosses, was given unanimous support in the Commons today - despite a controversial raft of new powers. The home secretary, David Blunkett, told MPs he was in favour of allowing intercept material - bugged phone calls and emails - to be used as evidence, pending a review which would report back in June.

And he would also, for the first time, force professionals such as lawyers and solicitors to cooperate with police enquiries into organised crime, even if it meant betraying client confidentiality.

The new agency will be called SOCA, which stands for the Serious and Organised Crime Agency. Copying a page from the U.S., there will now be benefits for turning "Queen's Evidence."