Digital ID needs to be resisted, surely?

[Honish]

There are just under 1 million illegal immigrants believed to be in Britain. The authories know who most of them are, and they are still here. Identifying them has never been the problem. We don't deport them, knowing who they are does not change this. This is one of the most breathtaking, blatant lies, made to us by our PM.

And the provider company for the digital ID, the person set make ever so many more millions than he already has, Tony Blairs son. How are people OK with this?

Honestly - I don't particularly care about illegal immigration, so I'd happily carry on broadly as we are (while trying to broker more return agreements with countries of origin). As you likely know, its a very small part of overall immigration (so it's likely more "symbolic" of public grievances than an actual big part of the problem).

But, obviously, it is a central electoral issue at the moment - and its certainly not unreasonable to want to deter illegal immigration.

Short of mobilizing the military against small boats (which we can only realistically do if we first wave goodbye to the European Court of Human Rights and the domestic Human Rights Act) there isnt much we can realistically do to prevent channel crossings.

Farage's plan (beyond scrapping the HRA) is to enter into agreements with foreign countries and pay them to take illegal immigrants back - which is pretty similar to what we do already so I'm not sure why he thinks it'll work for him.

Otherwise, if the UK wants to operate within existing human rights frameworks, then deferring immigration by making it extremely challenging to live in the country as a non-citizen is the best option, and thats what mandatory, digital ID would do.

Is it true that a government, that wants to suppress its citizens, would likely find it easier with centralized ID? Yes, if it was also minded to run roughshod over human rights. I wouldn't want (for example) to have to have digital ID in a country government by Trump. I'm happy enough to have in Canada, though.

What I cannot understand anyone wanting is a Reform government who would immediately remove or undermine all citizens' human rights. Its odd to me how many on the right seem completely unphased by the thought of human rights laws being repealed, but have a huge objection to ID cards based on human rights concerns. Its nonsensical.

(Not saying that last para applies to you btw, I dont know where exactly you stand).

His son is "in the ID discussion" only so far as its a lie that some people are peddling.

Who cares that he has a company? Why shouldn't he? It's not even a software company, btw.

I appreciate the thought out answer. I would take immigration as it is now over this digital ID scheme which imo will be undermining the freedoms of citizens and not do much for illegal workers. It’s easy to get round work and housing now, and the harder you make access for services etc the more crime you’ll have.

So I can understand what type of system you’re ok with is there anywhere that does use what you’re thinking of?

My personal experience with digital ID is in BC (Canada). It isnt mandatory, but I use it for convenience to access government services (healthcare, tax filings, and generally as proof of identity.

I have a physical card, too, but if I hand my physical card to a provider, they use my ID# to verify my ID which is linked to my digital one.

I don't need to use it to prove my right to work here, though, so it's not as far reaching. I can, though, appreciate and understand the potential utility.

FWIW, the government already has access to (or can obtain) the same information that digital ID would gather- the issue (from a law enforcement perspective) is that it is not centralized, and that fake IDs can successfully be used in various contexts (so even manual cross-referenxing is unreliable when it comes to people using fake info).

The ‘it isn’t mandatory’ part is key. I assume you mean the digital part? We show ID to work already. We show it at various stages, it’s not a problem. I don’t need more ease, I would like this freedom to stay.

Whatever is put in place is just another form of that that people will get around as they do now.

The more onerous you make the system the more crime there’ll be as people get shut out of stuff.

It won’t do anything for illegal working. BTW are you in Canada now? I’m fine for other countries and electorates who want it, I don’t want it here though.

Why the hell shouldn't Euan Blair have a company? What a ridiculous comment. Anyone can set up a company, you could if you wanted. If you want to find out if anyone has a company in the UK just put their name into the Companies House website, you can then see all their company directorships, all the other directors, their dates of birth, the company's registered address and all the company accounts.

I am in Canada now (but am a British, not Canadian, citizen).

I agree that it not being mandatory is a relevant difference, both in terms of aims and rights.

But digital ID is more robust than paper documents (just as paper documents with security features and difficulty-to-falsify features are more robust than plain paper). Digital ID is tied to a government authentication system, so cannot be falsified. That prevents use of fake ID and prevents employers and alike from being (or claiming to be) tricked by fake documents.

And, if we did get to the stage where a government was circumventing human rights laws, I think the fact that digital ID would make their job a little easier wouldn't be a central concern. Governments around the world have massively suppressed human rights in all manner of ways without digital ID - it feels like a red herring.

(Particularly when Reform, who have pledged to repeal human rights laws, are riding high in the polls).

Of course he can but suddenly he gets a lot of free publicity just as his father is back in the news.

His name being in the news at the moment will be irrelevant to him I would imagine, given how successful he has been prior to this, he has personal wealth of £350million according to the Sunday times rich list. He certainly doesn't need to hang on the back of his father's coattails.
His company has no involvement in digital ID anyway, that was an incorrect rumour put out on social media, surprise surprise.

How can you be so sure? Do you have any evidence of this? I live a country that has had an ID system for more than half a century. It was combined with a digital ID more than twenty years ago. None of the things you mention have happened here.

Technological advancement and the fact that the west is struggling with their economies. We all seem to be heading in the same direction and experiencing similar crises. This isn't sustainable and there appears to be change ahead. Maybe intuition. I don't know, I'm just not hopeful about the future regarding our freedoms.

Link to UK Government & Parliament Petition
“Do not introduce Digital ID cards”

please sign and share
currently standing at 2,663,026

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/730194

The petition has had a response.

Basically the government have said "tough shit we're introducing it". They have said it won't be compulsory, but will be required for several things such as the right to work. Employers will have to do "right to work checks" therefore anyone wanting to work in the UK will need to have one.

I feel fuming as would like them to have at least acknowleged the huge number of signatures the petition gained and the clear outcry for a proper consultation on the matter.

The government is now looking at 13 year olds having Digital ID.

The slippery slope was very quick.

This terrifies me.

I think the thing that people don't understand why people are worried about it is "the slippery slope". This is an exact example. Children age 13 can't properly consent. And their parents shouldn't be consenting for them... because then they get to adult hood they may not consent but by then it's too late and they have a "tag".

Adding things in to the digital ID in the future. A change in government using it differently in the future. An IT "glitch" at a pivotal point and a house sale falling though because of it. Someone was saying the other day how their child benefit had been stopped due to a short trip 18 months ago and passport control mishap where they hadn't registered her as being back in the country... even though she was working and earning in the UK for the last 18 months. If things like this can happen, imagine an IT glitch with ALL your information.
Accidental mis-haps with tax related issues, someone having access to be able to freeze bank accounts etc etc etc. The list goes on.

Yes this is catastrophising, and none of the above may ever happen. But now is the time to do that & question it and push back. Once it happens, it's here to stay. Once we agree there is no going back, and once one thing is added it can't be taken away. Because we are NOT the ones in charge of it all.

Steven Barrett, barrister has now suggested it’s time to write to the king and ask him to dissolve parliament.

I’m writing this week.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPQegNlE-1p/?igsh=N2o0djdvZmkxd3dx

This is the level of scrutiny and monitoring we're going to be facing in the near future.

Also, once the central bank digital currency is rolled out they can devalue our savings and houses.

If they don't want people to travel, you won't be able to travel. Now extend this to types of food or goods. We are going to be micromanaged, courtesy of Ai.

We are losing our freedoms. They're already changing the goalposts.