Leading article: An assault on our freedom
Friday, 26 September 2008
Talk about an unwelcome arrival. The Government has unveiled a small piece of plastic which represents a big threat to our historic liberties. The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, was showing off Britain's first biometric ID cards yesterday. From November, the cards will be issued to foreign students from outside the European Union and to marriage visa holders. According to Ms Smith: "We want to be able to prevent those here illegally from benefiting from the privileges of Britain."
The hundreds of thousands of irregular migrants who work in Britain's black economy will find that reference to the "privileges of Britain" rather rich. The truth is that irregular workers tend to go to extreme lengths to avoid any form of contact with the British state. They do not consult doctors, complain to the police of routine mistreatment, or claim benefits because they fear being deported. Rather than looking for another way to make life more difficult for such people (the vast majority of whom are simply looking to better their lives in a country with a ready supply of work), the Government should be considering an amnesty, as proposed by Anthony Browne in this newspaper today.
That said, we should not be distracted from what is really going on here. ID cards are not about migrant workers, but about all of us. The Government is preparing for its planned nationwide roll-out of ID cards in 2011 by first imposing them on one of the most reviled groups in our society. It is the thin edge of the wedge.
But we should not submit to such underhand tactics. The stupidity of forcing through this costly scheme as Britain enters an economic downturn should be obvious. The Government has stretched the public finances to the limit. To embark on a £4.7bn ID card project at such a time is fiscally irresponsible.
The public mood has also hardened since the Government first hit upon the idea. Who can have witnessed the carelessness with which the state has treated our personal data in the past year and still feel confident about handing over such sensitive information to officialdom?
Yet the most powerful argument against ID cards remains one of principle. The idea that we should routinely have to carry around a piece of card to prove who we are is an outrage. Even if Britain was still economically booming and the Government had an impeccable record of protecting our personal information, these cards would be unconscionable. Nothing has changed. We do not need ID cards and anyone who wishes to defend our freedoms should stand up and tell the Government so with a clear voice.
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Copyright 2008 Independent News and Media Limited
Comments
195 Comments
South Africa circa 1923 saw the introduction of Pass laws where black, coloured, Indian or generally non white south africans were forced to carry passes (pass books) dictating where, when and how they could move around, who their employer was, behavioural tendancies, fingerprints, address, length of employment amongst other information. Any government offical had the right to request or even cancel the pass details and directly imprison the holder.
If you do not believe me google it and wonder how far we have come as a nation. The fact that ID cards are being imposed on foreigners is funny but better still that the government is allowing British citizens to adopt the cards if they wish. Forget the costs, lack of security of our personal details, bogus terrorism arguments, access to NHS/benefits arguments for a minute. If you dont think ID cards are a massive breach of civil liberties then you as well as the government are as much the problem!
Posted by M Magbagbeola | 30.09.08, 16:59 GMT
How will this plan compare to the one that has been in place in Germany since the 1970s?
Sadly, I do not think that any amount of dissent is going to prevent the governmental measure from going through. Even more sadly, it will be only a matter of time until the terrorists (the real targets) and criminal underground (the real profiteers) will have figured out how to circumvent the system, leaving only the average Brit ensnared within the state's virtual grasp.
Posted by wed | 28.09.08, 04:58 GMT
It's the national data base that is the problem, it can hold all sorts of personal information, biometric info, health records, financial info, criminal records, and who knows what else? The ID card is a far more powerful document than most of the european cards which just carry a photo and an address.
The government claims that ID is necessary for security, but I believe that it is for total control over the citizenry. More will follow, satellite surveillance for road taxing and eventually I believe camera surveillance in our homes.
Not only the government, but corporate business will be spying on us. Shops, businesses, will cash in, harvesting our info for their own databases. America will have access to this data and now America can extradite anyone they like for whatever they like.
I hope the unions representing airport workers call a crippling strike. I hope the students refuse to pay their fees in protest.
Wake up! Remember your government is your enemy!
Posted by fitmo | 28.09.08, 00:04 GMT
In reply to "Anthony" : the answer to your question depends on a couple of variables:
1. the motive of government;
2. the motive of government.
Government has 'form' as a promoter and protector of large-scale ID thefts by tentacles of organised crime within pertinent Departments of State - the DWP being a prime specimen - for the purpose of procuring fodder for a black economy that kept the Brown economy afloat and the Blair government in power for a decade.
It is therefore not unreasonable to infer how that same government, is motivated.
Therefore the answer to your "how long" question, is a negative number. The Plovdiv factory and other such sources are already equipped with the necessary technology and information.
Posted by Jack | 27.09.08, 19:21 GMT
How long will it take organized crime or a (genuine) foreign enemy to manufacture counterfeit ID cards?
An ID card will be accepted as proof of identity without question. Why would a security official risk making a fool of himself by trusting his gut feeling that something isn't quite right, when the system is supposedly foolproof?
And if it isn't foolproof then surely its introduction is even more dangerous, in that it will cause those who should be asking questions to suspend judgement.
CCTV, DNA, ID cards?
When I read Orwell's 1984 as a student many years ago, I enjoyed the story, but thought it grotesquely exaggerated.
Recently I read it again - and it seemed so tame.
Posted by Anthony | 27.09.08, 12:20 GMT
Lets just refuse to co-operate with this crazy scheme and watch the machinary responsible for its imposition implode.
Posted by Paul G | 27.09.08, 09:52 GMT
If the State in all its manifestations, remains the sum total of us all as free people, and generally acts on our behalf how have we allowed it to become our masterr telling us what we can do and cannot do.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Come on the good men and women!
Posted by Free Spirit | 27.09.08, 08:44 GMT
Ive enjoyed reading through all the comments. I personally am against id cards.
One person comments in here on the USA firm EDS?
EDS are in the dvla, the job centres, and CSA already, thats if you need any more convincing that this is sinister? Let alone the cost.
EDS was a favourite of Mrs Thatcher, and we all know what a legacy she left.
We are not British anymore, but European, we are going to be as blank, and faceless and the same as everywhere else in Europe.
I believe the biggest threat to our society is apathy.
Posted by fearful and cynical | 27.09.08, 08:05 GMT
Isn't this pretty much gonna get shot down in the next general election anyway?
I always vote Liberal but if it desnt look like a definate win for the Tories I'm might vote for them just to make sure this doesnt go ahead
Posted by Monkeeeeee | 27.09.08, 02:25 GMT
I'm a nonEU British resident through marriage. During colonial times in my country Kenya, the colonial government gave African compulsary IDs which were carried everywhere and produced on demand.Today every Kenyan CITIZEN over 18 years get a National ID's irrespective of colour. People use them when dealing with all official matters and people are proud to have them.
Personally I can't comprehend why non-British should get a British ID anymore than they get British passports. Also, I don't believe for one moment that British citizens will be forced into getting IDs at any time. I think the project will be abandoned before 2011 and legal nonEU immigrants will be the only losers. They'll have paid millions of pounds into government kitty and their personal data exposed everywhere. IDs will not combat Illegal immigrantion and the threat from homegrown and foreign terrorists.
Posted by Penny Murphy | 27.09.08, 02:15 GMT
195 Comments