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 think this is what is hard to explain to nations who have traditionally been more at ease with authoritarian governments.
The Uk has never ( yet) succumbed to either Fascism or Communism, unlike many other European countries. Our police do not routinely walk around with guns. There has always been a sort of unwritten philosophy that we expect to be trusted, until we prove otherwise.
We have an NI number that says who we are- everyone has this. You can’t get a job without it, but for decades it was all you needed.
We have only recently needed id to vote. You’d register to vote by returning a form sent to your address (and voter fraud was not a big problem).
Theres always been a respect for individualism and privacy that I think has probably been eroded by the acceptance that, due to the internet, our data is shared constantly. But to some degree I can control that. I can not use supermarket loyalty cards, never order from Amazon etc
A digital id (not talking about an id card here) further attacks the ability to be private, anonymous and unrestricted. I value those things.

So if this is compulsory, what is the consequence of non compliance?. Trying thinking about it.

Why should the elderly have to 'get with it'? Who's going to buy my 90 year old uncle a smartphone? What would have been the point of my blind DM having a smartphone?

You don't have to give details to the police unless you're a suspect or a witness but no doubt this ridiculous government would be delighted to change that!

Maybe I need to read more about this scheme. But it just seems that it won't really stop desperate people getting on a boat. They will do it anyway.

Meanwhile legal immigrants, as far as I know, are asked for ID at immigration, by landlords and when applying for a new job. In fact the new evisa has a share code which you are supposed to share with anyone who asks.The share code lasts for a limited time. I don't have a problem doing that. My landlady asks me annually for proof that I have a right to work here. Quite rightly.

No EU country arrests people at gunpoint for something put on Twitter. As far as I'm aware no EU country demands official ID to see footage of protests on social media etc.

But the UK does.

If I told you 10 years ago the government would make it illegal to travel outside of your home twice a day, you'd have laughed, but it happened.

And for those who haven't quite got their heads round that yet, have a glance at Farage's twitter.

You don't think you should have to prove your entitled to TAXPAYER funded services?? Really? If I arrived in the UK and had an accident and was seen at A&E, you'd be happy to pay for me even though I stopped paying taxes there 20-odd years ago? Great! Let me know where you send the bill!

Stupid idea. Dystopian.

They tried this last time they were in power and it was ditched, after a strong campaign showed up all the negatives. It’s not the piece of plastic, it’s the database(s) behind it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NO2ID

We did have them in 2006/07. I had one - unfortunately later stolen in a burglary as I would love to still have it as a souvenir (obvs no longer valid).

Absolutely no problem with it

Also no problem with CCTV, data snooping or various other invasions of privacy

And I’d like cash to be phased out entirely

However. Given all this, I’d also like some additional checks and balances on the government in case it ever gets a bit 1984. At the moment we in theory have the monarchy as the ultimate check. Useless.

So what's the point of my NI number or NHS number (not that I know either of them off the top of my head)? Sure that's enough proof that I'm entitled to healthcare and to work

Oh the irony !

Do you have to provide identity when you present your self at A&E. I work in the NHS I’ve never seen anybody turned away because they couldn’t.

Bearing in mind it’s costing what £7 million per day to house illegal immigrants who all most always have NO ID to hide where they are from or who they are. This is a sensible decision and for anyone who claims the elderly cannot cope with it. What about the elderly in other countries? How do they manage?

<hollow laugh> that ship has already well and truly sailed. Nobody is anonymous on the internet. If certain governments want to find you, they already can. All these people claiming they won't give up their privacy: what privacy? If you have access to the internet; if you have a phone; if you have a passport; if you use public services; if you walk down a street - you've given up your privacy.

I imagine this has been announced to ensure continued cooperation from the French. I previously worked in immigration and every French official from their Ministers downwards told us incessantly that we wouldn’t have an immigration problem if we had ID Cards. It’s one of the reasons the French aren’t that bothered about stopping the boats as they consider solving the issue is within our own gift.

I live in the US. If I ever got pulled over by police, I would be asked for my driver's license, the vehicle registration card, and my proof of insurance.

The DL has a biometric photo of me, retaken every ten years. If I want to get a new library card or open a bank account, I am asked for proof of identity and address - it's on my DL. If I want to fly anywhere within the US, I use the DL as proof of identity.

So far, the police are not authorized to demand proof of identity or permission to reside in the US. ICE is a different matter of course...

I have no objection to using the biometric DL as an effective ID. If I didn't drive I could get a state ID, also biometric, which would be acceptable for proof of ID too.

I’ve made my opinion on the idea perfectly clear on another thread on the subject.

but essentially all of this. If it’s a £20billion cost to the tax payer and the roll out is delayed for 10 years because of reasons no one quite knows why. With loads of inquires about where it went wrong. Then it’s a no from me

Why?

Agree.

You've also left traces of yourself every time you've used a debit or credit card.

Well someone has started a petition and it’s already reached 275k signatures. I think this proposal will receive such a negative response from the electorate, he will end up standing down.
petition.parliament.uk/signatures/160512737/signed

I spoke too soon - it’s now at 281k signatures.

You have to ask rhe Q: what is Starmer trying to deflect attention away from by announcing his?
Surely not the 750K "donation" investigation??

I don’t get the British. You are the nation who won’t abolish school uniforms (despite the rest of the world successfully educating children without them) because “they enforce discipline, rule following, etc” -as often argued here.
You support school fines and criminal prosecution for parents who choose to take their children on holiday.

Yet you shout civil liberties when the government wants to introduce ID cards.

I think it’s just heavily ingrained in your culture to oppose anything that other countries do (Particularly in Europe) for no practical reason whatsoever.