UK MPs Approve Compulsory ID Cards

Idimmu Xul writes "BBC News is reporting that the UK House of Commons has approved legislation making identity cards compulsory." From the article: "The plans, rejected by peers last month, will now go back before the House of Lords. Tories warned of "creeping compulsion" and Lib Dems said the "fight against compulsory ID cards" would go on."

Comments

Only compulsory when applying for a passport

[Elessar]

Actually it is only compulsory when applying for a passport. It will not be compulsory otherwise.

Re:Commons?

[joe 155]

unfortunately (or not depending on the law) the House of Commons has the suprime authority over all issues and can use the Parliament Act of 1947 to push a law through that the Lords reject after 3 tries to get it through regularly. the system is different in this respect; the house of representatives can't over-rule the Senate.

Still if you think thats a bad system the Prime Minister could pass the law overnight, all he'd need is to get the Privy Council (which is made up of cabinet ministers - some past and present - and a few others) to agree and then the Queen to sign it (still the Queen can refuse to sign any law and then it doesn't become law - a power which hasn't been used since queen Anne - but still exists). Then it'd be law tomorrow... and the best thing is we don't need to worry about the seperation of powers or people's rights... oh, wait...

Re:Well, not quite

[deacon]

Especially chilling considering how the police are retaliating against people who make official complaints about police brutality.

Here is a page of peaceful, middle-class English protesters who have been beaten bloody.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/gall/0,8542,1305225,00.h tml

Here is an article documenting their continued persecution, due to their daring to speak out against police brutality:

http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:ccgGv54ab-wJ: www.horseandhound.co.uk/competitionnews/article.ph p%3Faid%3D62246+Hunt+supporters+who+made+complaint s+against+the+police+officers'+behaviour+in+Parlia ment+Square+last+September+are+now+being+arrested+ for+public+order+offences&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1

Another example of police terrorizing their critics:

http://prisonerjw7874.blogspot.com/

Despite all the jokes about "McChimpyBushHitler", it is interesting to see how US critics of the US State get rich and famous, while critics of the British State get their heads bashed in...

Hopefully something will change before it is too late.

Re:Bad movie script?

[biglig2]

Hack? Who needs to hack? Terrorists in the UK have already gained access to our driving license database for a period of years thru a symathizer in the DVLA (our version of the DMV) and used it to target victims. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/staffordshire/3 951945.stm for more details.

Re:Stupid paranoia with ID cards.

[mikael]

In the UK, we are suspicious of:

(1) The cost - that this is going to be a cash cow for the biometrics companies. The majority (if not all) of all UK government IT contracts, have costs that end up spiralling out of control, and have hefty cancellation fees. There is a fear that the government will charge an administration fee every time your address changes, and fine anyone who fails to update their address. Consider students, homeless people and contract workers who change address regularly.

(2) The invasion of privacy - governments departments such as the DVLA are already in trouble for selling personal information (names and addresses) to questionable private car clamping firms (with owners who have criminal records) who have sent threatening letters to car owners.

(3) The arguments for the need for ID cards have included: the ability to fight terrorism (although the home secretary admits it would not have stopped the London bombings), and the ability to fight social security fraud (although certain members of the public will be allowed to have two ID cards). If fraudsters are able to forge utility bills, passports, bank cards, what is going to stop them from faking ID cards?

(4) A good percentage of the population believe that the UK government has lost control of illegal immigration and is spending money on ID cards because they can't control the borders. And they can't target non-Christian religions, because that would be racist.

(5) Function creep - that the ID cards will be used for more basic services, such as booking flight, national train journeys and maybe even shopping purchases.

In any case, it would seem that France is also getting French ID cards