Tag Archives: id cards

Alex Foster

Enough is enough

By Alex Foster | Mon 5th January 2009 - 9:22 am

Anyone from any political persuasion can list things this Government has done that annoy them.

Personally, I was annoyed enough to join millions of others on the march against the war in Iraq – now it’s time to hold them to account.

I’m not so sure how I will react if and when I get the orders from the Government to present myself at the interrogation centre in nearby Derby and hand over more personal information than is currently demanded from sex offenders.  I’m not certain I’m ready to join Simon Hughes in jail for refusing an ID card.

I’ve never …

Continue reading »
Posted in News and Online politics | Also tagged , , , , , , , , and | 5 Comments
Mark Pack

My political video moment of the year

By Mark Pack | Mon 29th December 2008 - 8:50 am

You may think that this was just another political YouTube film, this one happening to feature Nick Clegg talking about ID cards.

But watch carefully 30 seconds in for the man entering stage left with a piece of string and a banana, eaten. Ten months on, I still have no idea why he would have been doing that:

Continue reading »
Posted in Lib Dem TV | Also tagged | 1 Comment
Alix Mortimer

Leak of precautions against leaks

By Alix Mortimer | Tue 9th December 2008 - 6:18 am

Here’s another so-terrifying-it’s-funny twist in the ID cards saga. No government likes leaks – as if we need reminding – and it seems our current lords and masters believe that leaks surrounding the ID cards scheme could be especially damaging. A fresh leak has revealed that they are taking precautionary measures against possible leaks (o! the irony) from the five companies currently involved in bidding for work on the ID cards scheme.

The Times has the story:

Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, has suffered fresh embarrassment from a new Whitehall leak disclosing that ministers are

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | 2 Comments
Helen Duffett

David Howarth: ID cards are bad news for Cambridge

By Helen Duffett | Sat 29th November 2008 - 1:10 pm

From this week, the Home Office has announced, compulsory ID cards will be issued to foreign nationals including students and those granted a visa because they are married to a British Citizen.

Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge David Howarth has pointed out the ID card scheme’s implications for the University city:

I am worried about the effect of this move on the economy of Cambridge, which relies on a stream of highly-qualified scientists, engineers and academics from all over the world.

Treating highly-qualified people as potential criminals rather than as welcome guests is not going to put us at the top of their

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged | 1 Comment
Richard Huzzey

Pilot of ID Cards may cause pilot strike

By Richard Huzzey | Tue 18th November 2008 - 6:30 pm

Could it be that British summer holidays cancelled by striking pilots will ultimately sink the ID card scheme? Labour’s cardboard coercion may yet be grounded on the runway of Manchester airport; at least, we can hope.

The Indie reports that resistance is growing to government plans to pilot ID cards on, erm, pilots. Staff at Manchester and London City airports, along with overseas students, are among the groups being targeted first for Labour’s laminated gifts of joy.

The British Airline Pilots Association is threatening strikes and the airline bosses, of the British Air Transport Association, are also annoyed that their staff …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | 6 Comments
Mark Pack

Government opens up new risk to our personal data

By Mark Pack | Tue 11th November 2008 - 12:30 pm

The Government’s latest attempt to persuade us of the wonders of its ID cards scheme is Introducing the National Identity Scheme, a publication that sets out the claimed benefits of the scheme but which in fact makes clear that the scheme will open up even more personal data to the mercy of computer hackers.

Sensitive and personal information about you will be available via a simple online login despite the fact that, as even many banks and other financial institutions have discovered, opening up records to online access means hackers will sometimes also get in. As the old saying goes, …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | 1 Comment
The Voice

Nick Clegg writes on ID cards

By The Voice | Fri 26th September 2008 - 11:14 am

From yesterday’s Guardian:

ID cards for foreign nationals are the thin end of the wedge, whatever they look like – and the home secretary, who unveiled their design today, knows it. Here’s how it goes:

Step 1: Target a weak group who have no political voice in the UK and who benefit from little public backing or support, and make them the guinea pig for a deeply unpopular policy.

Step 2: Once the sacrifice of their rights has embedded as “standard procedure”, pick off the next target – airport workers perhaps – or a group similarly small and likely to fly

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged | 3 Comments
Alex Foster

ID Cards – what do young people think?

By Alex Foster | Fri 11th July 2008 - 2:31 pm

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has launched a site for young people to let her know their thoughts on ID cards.

As you’d expect from any government website, the site is neutral, presents the arguments for and against in a balanced and responsible way, and allows young people themselves to do most of the talking.

Erm… well, it’s not like that at all.

The site is so much in favour of ID cards that it wouldn’t be too much to accuse them of astroturfing.  Clicking on “Info about ID Cards” brings up a page called “Myths about ID Cards” which even to my …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | 3 Comments
Mark Pack

Labour election leaflet unveils anti-foreigner shift in ID cards policy

By Mark Pack | Tue 13th May 2008 - 12:07 am

As I blogged about a few days ago, the Labour Party in the Crewe and Nantwich by-election is attacking the Conservative candidate for opposing “making foreign nationals carry an ID card”. As I said then,

The use of the word “foreign” there seems to come with some rather unpleasant overtones in this context, the implication being that ‘ooh, foreigners – they’re terribly nasty aren’t they – so surely you can’t be against keeping tabs on them now, can you?’

But – as Alex has reminded me – there’s more to this than that. Because, you see, making foreign nationals carry an …

Continue reading »
Posted in Parliamentary by-elections | Also tagged | 9 Comments
Mark Pack

Does Labour think it is losing the debate on ID cards? (UPDATED)

By Mark Pack | Sat 10th May 2008 - 11:30 am

An interesting snippet from some of the Labour material in the Crewe & Nantwich by-election: they are attacking the Conservative candidate for the (current, known to have changed a few times) Conservative policy of opposing ID cards.

However, from what I’ve seen of it, they’ve mostly given up on most of the arguments previously used and instead retreated into the following very narrow approach:

Do you oppose making foreign nationals carry an ID card?

The use of the word “foreign” there seems to come with some rather unpleasant overtones in this context, the implication being that ‘ooh, foreigners – they’re terribly nasty aren’t …

Continue reading »
Posted in News and Parliamentary by-elections | Also tagged | 10 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Nigel Jones
    @Mick Taylor, I agree we must be concerned about income inequality in current circumstances, though overcoming this is about taxing the rich, better public serv...
  • Nigel Jones
    @Mick Taylor, you are right to focus on strategy since we have plenty of policy, but i think we also need a vision and better messaging. It is easy to have stro...
  • Nigel Jones
    The New Deal graphic is very helpful but of course not perfect. As to preventing Reform from winning, we need to be an anti-establishment party as Chris Bowers ...
  • Nigel Jones
    It is certainly true that community politics is insufficient for long term gain. That was my experience in 13 yrs as a councillor and still active locally; at o...
  • Katharine Pindar
    Splendid stuff, well done Yorkists! 'The New Deal' seems a great idea in itself. Your graphic shows, however, how much work will need to be done to assert ourse...