New coalition Government abolishing ID cards scheme!

This (fabulous) news made my day:

Hallelujah!! Identity cards and National Identity Register to be cancelled!! YES!

Identity cards

Both Parties that now form the new Government stated in their manifestos that they will cancel Identity Cards and the National Identity Register. We will announce in due course how this will be achieved. Applications can continue to be made for ID cards but we would advise anyone thinking of applying to wait for further announcements.

Until Parliament agrees otherwise, identity cards remain valid and as such can still be used as an identity document and for travel within Europe. We will update you with further information as soon as we have it.

Via Home Office - Identity and Passport Service (IPS)

Notice the wording. Not if they will be cancelled - but how this wll be achieved. Excellent news!

ID Cards: the political spin about scrapping them

The recent announcement by Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary, that the Government would be scrapping plans for compulsory ID cards, was welcome news to just about everyone. And I think most people assumed the Government had seen sense at last and believed that it really was the end of the ID cards scheme. However, people seemed to forget that their personal details would still be stored on the National Identity Register when they obtained or renewed a passport (and almost everyone in Britain has a passport). And today an article in The Guardian by Mr Johnson, reveals the real view of Government: We need identity cards, and soon Identity fraud costs the UK £1.2bn, and untold misery, each year. ID cards are a cheap and effective way of fighting back [Really? How does an ID card fight identity fraud? It's based on a central database and the Government doesn't exactly have a good record with keeping data safe!] and in the article, Mr Johnson declares that "...despite the headlines that would have readers think otherwise, I'm not scrapping identity cards...". So there you have it. The real story is that nothing has changed - apart from saying the cards will be "voluntary" - and personal details will still be stored on a National Identity Register. Edited to add this update: This is an excerpt from PoliticsHome News today (Monday, 6 July, 2009) The Home Secretary has insisted that rather than scrapping ID cards, the government is accelerating the introduction of the scheme, saying it would be "completely ludicrous" to abandon the plans. "We haven't scrapped cards. What we're doing is acclerating their introduction," he said. And please read the comments following the article. I agree with the comment that it is absolute madness for the Labour party to go ahead with this very expensive scheme in the midst of a recession. I also agree with the comment about how this is a spiteful policy by the Labour party to get the ID cards/database in place so that the Conservative Party who are against the scheme, will be forced to waste the money when they get into power and scrap it as they have promised they will do.

Britain unveils ID cards for foreign nationals

The Labour government is determined to go ahead with their expensive and sinister plan for ID cards - and the database that goes with it: First sight of the ID cards that will soon be compulsory The Government was accused yesterday of cynically targeting immigrants to boost support for its controversial £4.7bn compulsory identity cards scheme as the Home Office unveiled the documents it plans will eventually be held by every adult in Britain. A coalition of opposition parties, trade unions and civil liberties campaigners condemned the symbolic release of the pink and blue cards, which will be introduced for foreign nationals living in Britain from next month. The plastic permits, containing the personal details, fingerprints and immigration status of foreign nationals, offer the first glimpse of what ID cards for British citizens will look like. Critics attacked the project as a dangerous waste of money that would undermine hundreds of years of civil rights and warned that targeting foreign residents could lead to discrimination and abuse. Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, said the scheme would protect against identity fraud, illegal working and cut organised crime and terrorism. (link via independent.co.uk) UK Border Agency - Identity cards for foreign nationals The Conservative Party - ID Cards - Labour's Bad IDea No2ID: Let's get this straight — it isn't just about identity cards. The government's identity scheme includes a huge database to keep tabs on everyone, a massive infrastructure to collect peoples' details, and a giant network of technology required to verify people against their cards and both of these against the database. The card is just the tip of the iceberg.

Data fiasco firm at heart of £20bn ID card scheme

Data fiasco firm PA Consulting is at heart of £20bn ID card scheme Fresh questions have been raised over the Government's ID card project as it emerged that the firm at the centre of the criminal data fiasco is at the heart of the £20bn project. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was last night under pressure to explain why the Home Office, which had known about the loss since Monday, had not made it public for three days when a whistleblower intervened. PA Consulting, which lost a memory stick containing Home Office data on all 84,000 prisoners in England and Wales and 43,000 of the country's most serious offenders, has been paid more than £240m for Government contracts in recent years, figures show. This includes £100m by the Home Office for the ID scheme and other work and £35m to work on new biometric visas for the Foreign Office. (link via telegraph.co.uk) I would be very surprised if anyone still supports the ID card/database scheme after this latest fiasco. How can anyone believe our data will be safe and secure? Frequently Asked Questions on Identity Cards (link via NO2ID, a campaigning organisation.) We are a single-issue group focussed on the threat to liberty and privacy posed by the rapid growth of the database state, of which "ID cards" are the most visible part.