The pricetag for the UK “snooper’s charter” — a comprehensive warrantless spying proposal from the government — is in: “at least £1.8 billion.” This is how the coalition fight crime, even as thousands of police take to the streets to protest cuts in front line patrols, and even as private companies are taking over “policing duties” in cities and towns across the nation. What austerity, huh? Nothing’s too dear when you’re spying on an entire nation’s entire digital life.