British government pushes ID Cards – and doubles the cost
By Dave Parrack
The British government seems to want to have complete control over all its citizens, whether the people actually want this to happen or not. The idea of having national identity cards is hardly a new one, but the way the Labour government is pushing it on to us, and making us pay through the nose for it, has lead many people to resent the idea altogether.
While those of you reading this in the U.S. can rightly regard yourselves as free citizens, those of us in the U.K. are actually subjects of the Queen. We have no constitution and are generally governed by archaic rules dating back hundreds of years.
But the current British government doesn’t seem content with merely having this level of control over us all, and so is pushing through a number of different initiatives to further strip us of our rights as individuals. One of these is the controversial super-database that will contain information on every single conversation that takes place in the U.K., and the other is the ever-so-popular I.D. card.
While some people don’t have a problem with the idea of us all being forced to carry an national identity card, arguing that it’s not a problem for people who have nothing to hide, that isn’t really the point. Owning an I.D. card means all manner of personal and confidential information will be collected and filed about you.
This immediately goes against my personal wishes, with worries of identity theft and government interference in our personal lives making me against the idea. But then you have to add in the fact that the British government hardly has a great track record when it comes to keeping data safe and secure.
BBC News reports that Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has now pushed the idea of I.D. cards by stating that people “can’t wait” for the cards to be introduced. It has also been revealed that the cards would hold biometric data and fingerprints which will double the proposed cost of buying an identity card from £30 ($50) to £60 ($100).
But even though we’re all being asked to pay for the cost of an identity card ourselves, the scheme is still thought to be costing the government billions, with the 10-year forecast having risen from £50 million to £5.1 billion.
Despite criticism from civil liberties groups and both opposition parties, the scheme is set to start this month before being rolled out to include larger groups of people in 2010, and then the rest of us in 2012. Big Brother is alive and well, and currently taking hold in the U.K.
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November 7th, 2008
When are you subjects of the Queen going to throw of the yoke and implement a proper free nation? Its been what, 230+ years since we showed you how? ;)
November 7th, 2008
I find this incredibly anoying as I live in the UK. Although i’m just 15 and have lived all my life in the UK I have to apply for citizen as my parents were from (the continent) South America. What pisses me off is the fact that I know have to swear to the Queen even though I believe the Monarchy is not needed and it is hard for me to make such a big lie. I also hate the idea of that pledge being introduced to schools and the proposed ‘Britishness’ day in response to the amount of immigrants. This response I find alienating as Britain is a multi-cultural place with many different people and not just the steroetypes one would think of England. This is all I have to say.
November 7th, 2008
Yes it’s annoying and yes it’s an intrusion.
But.
There are 100’s of private organisations keeping tabs and track of what we do right now.
Where’s the fuss about that?
One more official piece of ID isn’t going to do much more than be, at best, a useful convenience (it can for instance combine passport & driving licence) and at worse a pain in the ass if we are asked for it and don’t have it.
We might not like it but it will not be the UK Gov driving this, it will be the private sector (think banks etc) demanding it as a more secure means of ID (as in, not perfect but for most of us most of the time much more secure).
More and more services will be easier to obtain with it.
If it costs (as has been claimed) the same as a passport & driving licence (and will work as a combo for those documents) then I will not worry too much over it.
They have had them in many western countries for many years and the sky did not fall down and nor did a Police state suddenly spring up.
November 8th, 2008
I thought the Berlin Wall fell, I didn’t know it was still up and spread to the U.K. I thought the old Soviet Union required things like this.
November 8th, 2008
Davidb
The British constitutional monarchy is hardly the dictatorship you seem to want it to be – we sure as hell do not suffer rigged elections for a start.
Ralph
Yeah cos you don’t have any kind of requirement for an ID card of any kind in anybodies’ affairs (whether provate or public) where you live, eh?
November 9th, 2008
give my regards to Gordon Hitler
November 9th, 2008
give my regards to Gordon Hitler