Dave For PM, Maybe
For one very simple reason:
They may try in vain, I think it is unlikely the Tories will win the next election. Labour will probably sneak in with a small majority in the commons, unless the economy starts to go tits up in the next couple of years. The current government promise to make the possessionn of the cards compulsory at a latter date could conceivably be defeated by a Tory/Libdem coalition. Of course as the head of our state security apparatus Charles Clarke has made clear ZaNulabour has engineered the scheme to make it very difficult to pull it down. Anyone with a brain in their head realizess that the problem is a lot more to do with the NIR than the cards themselves. And registration on the NIR is already compulsory for the 80% of UK subjects who wish to hold a UK passport. The government recently rammed the relevant act through parliament by allowing people to refuse issue of an ID card when getting a new passport. "See it's not compulsory just like we said in our manifesto" they tittered with glee. Or not, as you will still be photographed, bioscanned and fingerprinted whether you want the silly plastic license to exist or not. So the question for Boy Dave should not be about the cards themselves but instead should be: "Dave will you abolish the NIR as a priority on taking office no matter how much has been spent by ZaNulabour on the wretched scheme". I fear the answer may not be an unequivocal no and the argument would be that they can't possibly make passports less secure by scrapping the NIR, due to EU and other international obligations. Other future arguments for not deleting the whole thing include:
1. Contractual obligations with the private sector, which include financial penalties for the state if the scheme is scrapped.
2. The fact that financial institutions may have started to accept biometric ID as a gold standard to speed up transactions currently requiring more than one form of ID, Tories don't like pissing off banks after all.
3. The sheer momentum that the scheme is building up. Let's be clear this is a massive IT project and government departments and local government our going to have to spend massive amount of your money implementing it.
ZaNulabour as I said before has engineered non-scrapability from the beginning. All the time aided and abetted by empire building Home Office mandarins and politically appointed special advisors. After all, this massive scheme means more jobs for loyal Labour voting civil servants, but that is another story. This comment on NO2ID's front page about the new Identity and Passport Service is particulary scary/funny
Under my leadership, we'll always strive to do the right thing.
That means saving our energy to oppose the government when it's wrong.
Like on ID cards.
Labour can't decide what it's for.
They can't control what it costs.
They can't explain why they're making it compulsory.
Labour's plastic poll tax has no place in modern Britain.
It's an ugly monument to the waste, chaos and vanity of intrusive, over-mighty government.
I promise you this... .in office, we will pull it down.
They may try in vain, I think it is unlikely the Tories will win the next election. Labour will probably sneak in with a small majority in the commons, unless the economy starts to go tits up in the next couple of years. The current government promise to make the possessionn of the cards compulsory at a latter date could conceivably be defeated by a Tory/Libdem coalition. Of course as the head of our state security apparatus Charles Clarke has made clear ZaNulabour has engineered the scheme to make it very difficult to pull it down. Anyone with a brain in their head realizess that the problem is a lot more to do with the NIR than the cards themselves. And registration on the NIR is already compulsory for the 80% of UK subjects who wish to hold a UK passport. The government recently rammed the relevant act through parliament by allowing people to refuse issue of an ID card when getting a new passport. "See it's not compulsory just like we said in our manifesto" they tittered with glee. Or not, as you will still be photographed, bioscanned and fingerprinted whether you want the silly plastic license to exist or not. So the question for Boy Dave should not be about the cards themselves but instead should be: "Dave will you abolish the NIR as a priority on taking office no matter how much has been spent by ZaNulabour on the wretched scheme". I fear the answer may not be an unequivocal no and the argument would be that they can't possibly make passports less secure by scrapping the NIR, due to EU and other international obligations. Other future arguments for not deleting the whole thing include:
1. Contractual obligations with the private sector, which include financial penalties for the state if the scheme is scrapped.
2. The fact that financial institutions may have started to accept biometric ID as a gold standard to speed up transactions currently requiring more than one form of ID, Tories don't like pissing off banks after all.
3. The sheer momentum that the scheme is building up. Let's be clear this is a massive IT project and government departments and local government our going to have to spend massive amount of your money implementing it.
ZaNulabour as I said before has engineered non-scrapability from the beginning. All the time aided and abetted by empire building Home Office mandarins and politically appointed special advisors. After all, this massive scheme means more jobs for loyal Labour voting civil servants, but that is another story. This comment on NO2ID's front page about the new Identity and Passport Service is particulary scary/funny
"Charles Clarke started by sneering at the public, saying anyone who opts out of the scheme is "foolish". Now the Home Office shows its utter contempt for the Parliamentary process by having a 'new agency' ready to open, and choosing April Fools Day - a Saturday - to do it.Mr Clarke is probably right, you will have to spend £93 pounds on being treated like a criminal whether you accept the card or not. The state is not your friend.
This joke agency is going to nationalise you and rent your identity back to you with your passport. What a hoot for Mr Clarke! What fools we are to resent it!"
posted by Bert M at 4:40 pm
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