How can Gordon Brown justify £5.3 billion for ID cards?

[eleusis]

Let the bidding commence

How is he going to pay for this? And why why why is it necessary?

£5.3 billion!! And we all know these things are never in budget. God help us.

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I can't find it but it was based on advertising delivered to your mobile phone based on your proximity, a la Minority Report.

It all makes me want to run off and live in a croft with my own spring. I'd go as far as to get rid of my phone if they started doing this.

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It's the beginning of the end, I tell you, hell, handcarts, mutter mutter

Have changed view on this pretty much.

Similar to sauce's post, a French friend and I discussed this couple of weeks ago. It works for a lot of countries in the world, proves your i.d. when needed in lots of social/legal circs. One isn't losing any privacy that the state can't already access.

IN this country it is pathetically sold as an aide against terrorism, which any sane person will see is alot of kak.

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Maybe lots of people need to tell him they'll vote elsewhere on this.

The fact that places like France have them doesn't fill me with much confidence for the UK - this government seems to have a talent for making a balls-up of anything technical!

yes, France does,

Continental people don't feel spied on, under scrutiny etc any more than we do.
I used to be in www's 'retire to a life of crofting' option, and being a bit of a libertarian it is quite a change for me.
It's a card with perhaps some bio=metrics on it. It isn't a plate of poo you have to walk round with, your soul, or your arse showing.

They will reclaim the money by making the cards compulsory (SP) and then chargeing us £100 plus to get the cards.

I had to get one when I lived in France. But I don't recall it costing me anything.

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I vote against

They'd have more chance changing people's ideas IF they dropped the terrorism angle. It's a bit like the "wear this deodrant, women will flock to you.." adverts. Things are a bit more complicated than that...

And the cost is exhorbitant. Other countries introduced them when costs were a great deal comparatively modest. That's the only thing that I balk over.

ll - I doubt about the riot thing.

Brits will grumble, write the odd letter, go on a march. And then do as they are told. I'm afraid.

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lol at Britons response, you're probably right. Watching the English by Kate Fox (I think) is v funny on this. She studied in depth how the English behave in queues. They know if anyone is even THINKIGN about q jumping and they do a shuffle thing to let them knwo that they know they're thinking about jumping the queue.

True, I was in an anti poll tax union. Maggie grossly underestimated how people would feel about that. As my boyf at the time said "what a fk up, to get th ewhole country up in arms about local govt taxation"