More than half the public (53%) think ID cards are a bad or very bad idea when reminded that “The government has proposed the introduction of identity cards that, in combination with your passport, will cost around £93”. This compares to 37% saying they are a good or very good idea.
Opposition to ID cards has grown since 2006 when only 33% opposed the idea.
You can read more about the Liberal Democrat opposition to ID cards over on the Freedom Bill website.
The results are from the State of the Nation Survey 2010, a new poll of 2,288 people aged 18+ conducted by ICM for the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust 20 January – 7 February.
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2 Comments
This should not be taken as a comforting story. If £93 is too expensive for a National ID card, would £53 be more acceptable?
The cost is irrelevant and should be disregarded in arguments opposing NID. We should oppose NID on liberal terms.
Facebook costs users nothing financially. But members who sign up voluntarily can expect their personal information to be used for commercial purposes. Personal information is used to deliver personally relevant adverts. Members do not understand how much personal information they have given away.
Like Facebook, NID requires people to give away personal information that, with a bit of thought, they would not wish to share. The UK state knows when I was born, the location of birth (for identification purposes), and that I have not died. Given that I have not committed a criminal act, that is all that the state needs to know.
A more realistic cost for an ID card is £300 when you include the overall cost of the National Identity Scheme divided by the number of taxpayers who are footing the bill for it.
I find that the most convincing argument against the database, other than the lifetime of fees and penalties you sign yourself up to, is to remind people of the HMRC data loss of millions of people’s home addresses and bank details.