ID cards to be introduced. What do you feel. ?

[Fishingboatbobbingnight]

I have worked in serious organised crime for two decades. This is one of the best bits of news I have read in a long while. I have also been involved in ‘small boat’ arrivals. The reason people will by pass several safe EU countries to get to the UK is ‘I can get lost if I don’t get asylum’ ‘UK has no ID cards’ . It’s a no brainer .. why why has it taken so long. ? If you want to have the services your country has to offer - through most of the world - from healthcare to the library- you need to show you are a bona-fida citizen. However , for some unfathomable reason , the flag waving right wingers are always the one to oppose ..is it because they are scared it will work and leave their thinly veiled racism floundering ?

Yes to ID cards = YANBU
No to ID cards = YABU

I guess it will achieve the desired goal to some extent. DHs country has ID cards and it was a total PITA for me when we lived there, lots of computer says no scenarios.
I'd rather not have them personally, just more paperwork to keep on top of.

Can someone please answer me! If you don’t have an ID document linking you to the criminal justice system how do you do a police clearance for example if someone’s wants to work in a school???

Is the plan for it to replace all those things?

I'm in France and I have a French ID card, French passport, French driving licence and French health insurance card, as well as my British passport.

Do you think other European countries don’t have illegal immigrants?

I'm from an EU country that has IDs, always has. And that is exactly right. You carry your ID almost everywhere. It's second nature. It's in your wallet/pocket at all times. Just like your phone and debit card.

No one has to produce a water bill or a bank statement to get credit, buy a phone, open a bank account, rent a flat etc. It's your proof of address, date of birth etc etc. Everything.

It's extremely convenient.

I rather suspect the contrary is true, and that the Labour back benches will prove problematic to Starmer getting this though.

Why? I will wager that many of Labour’s constituencies would really rather not be on any more data bases than is strictly necessary.

Call it a hunch….

I wonder how all those other countries with ID cards survive?

yeah I thought it was going to be a REALLY GOOD AMA!

This has confused me. We get an ID number when our birth is registered and it follows us for the rest of our lives and all our information is tied to it. In UK I have to go around with a utility bill and it somehow proves something and middle names are the things that separate you from another John Smith. when i moved to UK as a student I didnt even have to tell any government body about it. My british bf was horrified by the thought of us getting a number at birth.

My issue is that we aren't competent to roll something like this out in UK. It will end up being contacted out at huge ££££ to a Chinese company through a mate of Starmer's. The opportunity for corruption is huge.

Also on 1 hand we can't fund the existing services we've got yet the magic money tree can afford to pay for this??

They'll find a way of cheating the system, the same as is done regarding driving licences and car insurance.

Because it’s not mandatory to carry it and the police aren’t interested if you have a physical card. Even if you don’t have a card, you have a number that was assigned to you at birth. If you want to do stuff like open a bank account etc you have to produce your card as a means of identification.

Surely there will have to be a non digital version?

Why would it replace passports?

Passports meet an international standard to be accepted by other countries.

Illegal immigrants can’t claim benefits.

Its another step in eroding our civil liberties, in an increasingly right wing society.
It will make life for minorities even more difficult and dangerous.
No one voted for this They are not about safety they are about state control.
We should all oppose this.

YABU. This won't stop any illegal activity or economic migration. There are already laws in place to stop crimes that ID cards are being sold as preventing and those laws are already not enforced or get paltry prison sentences.

All that will happen is that life will be made harder and more draconian for law-biding citizens whilst criminals will just circumvent any kind of ID regulation and even if they don't, there is no evidence that the Government will actually crack down on crime properly with the advent of ID cards.

The thought of this Government having more control and more access to peoples private lives is terrifying - this week alone we have seen two tier justice in action - no prison for a very violent knife assault whilst the perpetrator expressed they wanted to kill their victim, whilst others get sent to prison for things they write on twitter. I absolutely do not trust this Government with more control of peoples lives and access to sensitive information.

Sounds like we may be from the same place. At least somewhere where your electricity bill and post code aren’t more important than who you are!

I genuinely cannot see why there is such controversy about them, why is it an issue carrying a card/ digital card , not as if we don’t already have I’d on driving licence/ passports etc

I don't have a strong opinion on it but find myself instinctively feeling wary when someone starts bleating about small boats.

So you don't have an NHS number, or a National Insurance number? We already have governmental ID numbers. Wartime ID card numbers became your NHS number when it first came into being. My only reservation is that they'll give the job of setting up the system to some totally incompetent new start-up company (with a big political donor at its helm) or, God help us, to a Chinese tech firm.

I don't have an issue with an ID card - I already have a driving licence and a passport, so one more form of ID isn't a problem.

Am I convinced that the government can actually deliver this behemoth of a project? No. Absolutely not.

As long as it can go in my Apple wallet and I don’t have to carry it around

If this is due to illegal immigration, I’m annoyed that something that should not be problem has become my problem due to the cost to the taxpayer (of which I’m one) and the inconvenience to me.

ANOTHER cost to the country due to illegal immigration. When will this stop?!

I have a ID card - it’s mandatory to carry it and you have to show it if requested by any authorities. You can’t access healthcare, education or tax services without having one. It’s not complicated.

Finally the UK are moving into the digital age!