The House of Lords report on Britain's surveillance society is a devastating analysis of the systems that have been installed by the authoritarian Labour government and the controlling forces emerging in local government. There is no question now that Britain's free society is under threat, and it is time for the public and opposition parties to declare an end to this regime of intrusion.

Until today it has been the work of activists, journalists and a handful of academics like Clive Norris of Sheffield University to warn of the dangers to our freedom and privacy posed by the database state. Now it is official. There could be no more authoritative judgment than this measured report, Surveillance Citizens and the State, produced by the Lord's constitution committee. The report says that mass surveillance "risks undermining the fundamental relationship between the state and citizens, which is the cornerstone of democracy and good governance".

It paints a picture of a governing class that has become obsessed with the collection of personal data. The public is "often unaware of the vast amount of information about them that is kept and exchanged between organisations" This will be greatly increased if Jack Straw's coroners' and justice bill is allowed to pass through the Commons, with Labour manipulating the parliamentary schedule so that the data-sharing proposals contained in it go largely unscrutinised.

The report says that successive governments have constructed an advanced surveillance society on the pretext of dealing with the menace of crime and terror. It amounts "to one of the most significant changes in the life of the nation since the end of the second world war". I would add that it is the greatest threat to our democracy since Britain faced Hitler's military machine.

Such remarks have in the past been dismissed by the government as paranoia. Government supporters in the media have talked about activists seeking a kind of victimhood when they raised the alarm. How many times have we heard that sinister and dishonest line, "if you've nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear?" Well, it is plain that we all have something to fear from the society that ministers like Straw, David Blunkett, Charles Clarke, John Reid and Jacqui Smith have brought into being.

Not one of these Labour home secretaries has stood against the agenda that has been quietly implemented by the Home Office, Ministry of Justice and police forces. But of course it is not just central government that is responsible. One of the strengths of the Lords' report is its criticism of the local authorities which have used the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act – terror laws known as RIPA – to mount secret spying operations on people suspected of littering, fly-tipping, fishing illegally and applying to a school outside their catchment area. Among 44 recommendations, the report asks the government to reconsider the use of RIPA laws by local councils.

The cross party committee is particularly good on the principle that privacy is essential to any healthy democracy. Lord Goodlad, a former Conservative chief whip, said:

The huge rise in surveillance and data collection by the state and other organisations risks undermining the long-standing traditions of privacy and individual freedom which are vital for democracy. If the public are to trust that information about them is not being improperly used there should be much more openness about what data is collected, by whom and how it is use.

The Lords suggest that all future plans to collect and share information should be exposed to a procedure which they describe as "privacy impact assessment" This is welcome because it underlines the point that personal information is precisely that and that any government must explain why it needs our data and what it proposes to do with it. Up until now the government has treated our information as if it were state property.

It is regrettable that the Lords did not comment on the proposals of the communications data bill which will allow the government to seize data from every phone call, text message, email and internet connection. But they have commented on the DNA database and recommended that the DNA of all innocent people should be removed. And they have commented on the spread of CCTV systems. They say that four million cameras are watching us, but that is an old statistic and I suspect that we are approaching the figure of five million – roughly one camera for every 12 people.

We have got used to the little black orbs attached to lampposts throughout our city centres and public spaces, but when foreigners see the evidence of such pervasive suspicion they are astounded and also amazed that the British have slept while sinister forces mount a silent coup. Last night I was talking to an Israeli who simply could not believe the number of cameras he came across every day.

The report calls for a profound change in the attitudes and behaviour of the government. But that is not going to happen. Labour is committed to its course of eroding the traditions, procedures and respect on which our free society is based. It will not rest until all its costly systems are in place and its legacy of control and disrespect is assured.

This report is a grave warning to us all, especially to an opposition that has been so feeble in defending our privacy and rights.

Many of us feel vindicated this morning, but the battle has yet to begin.