It’s a natural progression. The conflict with the IRA was Britains own “Patriot Act” moment. They’ve had ANPR (license plate recognition), and CCTV everywhere for years.

There is no constitution, so no concept of 4th amendment. If you get pulled over driving in the UK, they’ve already established via ANPR whether you have a license, if the car is inspect, if you have insurance, if you have any outstanding warrants or prior convictions. Facial recognition (LFR) has been deployed for over a decade.

Suppressing speech is simply the next step.