Posted on 12/26/2004 2:12:28 PM PST by Murtyo
Thousands of people in the North are expected to reject British government identification cards when they are introduced in the six counties (AKA 'Northern Ireland') in 2008.
Observers believe that plans by the British Home Secretary Charles Clarke to bring in compulsory cards will undermine the Irish nationality of northern nationalists and go against the ethos of the Good Friday Agreement.
Under new legislation, the cards will be issued to people applying for British passports from 2008.
The British government will then decide whether to make the cards compulsory.
It is widely expected that the cards will become mandatory following the passing of the initial bill in the House of Commons last week.
Clarke told MPs that ID cards would eventually have to be made compulsory and that those who opposed compulsion should vote against the bill.
The cards will include biometric data, including fingerprints, facial dimensions and iris scans, which are unique to every individual and difficult to forge.
A British identity register will be set up to store the biometric information.
Many nationalists fear that not holding the cards will lead to their effective criminalisation under the new scheme.
Sinn Féin has claimed that the scheme will undermine civil liberties and the right of people in the North to identify themselves as Irish.
The party has queried whether there is any legal basis for the British government to hold information on Irish citizens.
The SDLP also plans to campaign against their introduction in the New Year.
“The SDLP has always been opposed to identity cards,” said a party source.
“We're not opposed to them per se - it's not a knee-jerk liberal reaction, but we know from experience that there isn't a sufficient basis for agreement here.
“Similar schemes introduced in the North in the past have been abused - there is potential for abuse with this scheme as well.”
The source said the SDLP would only consider identity cards if such a scheme were developed within an “all-Ireland context.”
Justice minister (Republic of Ireland) Michael McDowell said last week that, while he did not agree entirely with the British plans, the Republic might be forced to introduce a similar scheme.
“A lot would depend on the attitude taken by Britain, because simply travelling in and out of Britain and north-south travel is part of the common travel area,” he said.
This followed the comments of Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble who said that, if the proposals for compulsory ID cards reached their final stage, “it will have been necessary to have persuaded the Irish Republic to introduce an almost identical system.”
Sounds like they borrowed the "internal passport" idea from the Soviets.
I hear you. I have sympathy for these govts but I'm very wary of all these attempts to ID and tag everybody.
You've only seen the beginning. Because of the weakness of the world's politicians in facing the real threat and profiling . . . . . . . yes I said that evil word P-R-O-F-I-L-I-N-G those who would undermine our liberties and destroy our civilization we will soon be required to carry a national ID card. Here in the US it will probably be your drivers license. Shortly thereafter the bad guys will find a way to fake the id cards, ( it always happens !!! ), then they will require us to have an id "chip" implanted under our skin. Pretty soon we'll be just like great big herds of tagged cattle roaming in the fields AND IF WE LET IT HAPPEN WE DESERVE IT. With exceedingly rare exceptions politicians are NOT incredibly wise sages. The are "almost" normal people vaulted to positions of power by their personal charisma and circumstances of the moment. Rarely, if ever, do they look beyond the next "shareholders meeting", ( election ).
Or the United States.
666
So the British govt. has decided to brand it's slaves. Will the British sheep protest their enslavement or will they submit meekly?
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