No2ID News

It's been quite a while since I've done any anti-ID card haranguing: I'm not going to rant on for any length of time now, either. My views on the matter haven't moved one iota and should this appalling leap into a police state continue its dread trudge into our everyday lives, I'll have no option but to end my days under a different nationality. (Sorry, High Lord, I'd love to be a citizen of Independent Chantry - but somehow I reckon our esteemed government might leech their way into even that sylvan vale).

So - for those of you who already have an interest here are a few tidbits from the latest No2ID campaign communication. Be afraid. This is going to get rough.

First up - remember when they said ID cards would never be compulsory?

"The British Airline Pilots' Association (BALPA) has stepped up its campaign against the ID scheme and in particular its compulsory nature.Pilots and other airside workers at Manchester Airport will have to apply for the card - or lose their jobs.

BALPA General Secretary Jim McAuslan said: "Parliament was told by the Government that the scheme would be voluntary. But pilots are told that if they have no ID card they will not be allowed airside and if they cannot get airside they cannot fly, and they lose their jobs. This is intolerable".

BALPA say they will resist the scheme "with every lawful means at our disposal" including legal action, fighting it in Parliament and seeking the support of the travelling public. The government has said that all pilots and airside workers will be required to have ID cards and the next airport to be targeted will be London City Airport.

In a recent survey of BALPA members for every pilot in favour of the national ID scheme there were six against."

Secondly a bit about how much these bloody things are going to cost any of us who submit and actually apply for one.

"The government has claimed for some time that the price of an ID card will be £30. However the trial in Manchester reveals that the plastic card will cost £30 and biometric enrolment will cost another £30.

Draft orders published under the ID card act now reveal that an ID card is £30 if the application accompanies an application to be entered in the National Identity Register, the database behind the scheme. But if they are not done together then the cost of an ID card is £30 and the cost of going on the database is yet another £30."

Lastly, some evidence that function creep is already happening; we're being instructed to ask for photo ID on the railways now for certain transactions - it won't be long before all businesses are refusing to serve you unless you prove who you are and they can record what you've bought or what business you've transacted.

"One NO2ID supporter who recently travelled to Orkney by ferry was shocked when Northlink Ferries said they require photo ID for all passengers over 16.

When he wrote to Northlink they replied that it was because the ferry was going into international waters but one glance at the map showed this was rubbish. They then replied that it was for security and safety reasons. (always a great excuse and almost always a big fat lie - The Millbrooker)

When travelling he asked again and they said it was because the vessel was over a certain size and EU regulations demanded it. (This is also, to use Slocombe's best film critique wording, bollocks - The Millbrooker).

Soon photo ID could be required for all such journeys - the government's CONTEST strategy lays out plans for "police powers to collect advance passenger data on some domestic air and sea journeys"."

Why the hell does anyone need ID to travel inside their own country? Remember the internal passports issued by the old USSR? Fancy doing something similar here? That's what's coming, guys. PLEASE fight it, and fight it now.