'Bury bad news' claim on ID cards

Opposition MPs have accused Leader of the Commons Geoff Hoon of trying to "bury bad news at sea" in timing a debate on ID cards when many are away.

The first vote on the government's controversial scheme is on Tuesday, the same day many MPs will mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar.

Conservatives said many would find it hard to attend and said coverage would be overshadowed by celebrations.

Next week's debate will be the second reading of the bill and the first real test of mood since an almost identical bill was abandoned before the General Election.

The Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and some Labour MPs are expected to oppose the plans, which are likely to face a stormy passage in Parliament.

Tory MPs said many members would be marking the 200th anniversary at the International Fleet Review in the Solent, which begins the Royal Navy's commemorations of the historic battle.

Julian Lewis said media coverage of the Trafalgar event would overshadow the Commons' debate on the highly controversial ID card proposals and accused the former defence secretary of seeking to "bury bad news at sea".

Mr Hoon said he would be both taking part in the celebrations and voting at the end of the debate.

He said he was "somewhat surprised" to hear of MPs' difficulties and was sure that members would be able to watch the Fleet Review and still be back in time for the vote - at 2200 BST in the evening.

He dismissed as "conspiracy theorising" any suggestion that the two events had been put on the same day on purpose.

Last week Home Secretary Charles Clarke moved to dismiss claims that the controversial ID cards would cost £300 to buy.

The estimate was made in a report due to be published by the London School of Economics and differs from the figure of £93 put forward by the government.

Before the election 19 Labour MPs rebelled over the earlier bill on third reading. It was abandoned after the poll date was announced.

Yes, the unscrupulous nuLabour government will use any method to get its authoritarian legislation through Parliament, even taking advantage of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar is not beneath them. Last year the government also diverted media attention away from the news that the price of a ten year passport went from £42 to £77 by not announcing it at the same time as the cosmetic changes to the ID scheme, but instead by delaying David Blunkett’s announcement for a week so that it fell on the day of the US election - when no one in the media would take any notice!

Personally, I disapprove of the proposed ID card/National Identity Register scheme outlined in this bill. The scheme, as outlined, will not do most of the things which the government claims it will do, it will fundamentally change the relationship between the citizen and the state, it is likely to run several times over budget (given the government's terrible record on IT project procurement), it is based on unproven biometric technology which still has massive flaws, incorrect analyses of biometric data or incorrectly entered data on the NIR database will cause innocent British citizens to be detained and potentially prosecuted and the database, (which they already plan to have 51 data fields on), is virtually guaranteed to be subjected to "function creep" in the future.

I would like to take this opportunity to let any British citizens who are opposed to this scheme know that now would be a good time to write to your MP to express your disapproval of the Identity Cards Bill, which will get its final debate and vote in the House of Commons on Tuesday the 28th of June. There are several little publicised facts that you could use in your message on these webpages:

The case against ID cards.

Specific analysis of the bill and why it will fail to prevent terrorism, illegal immigration and the majority of what the government incorrectly dubs "identity theft" cases etc.

The dropping popularity of this scheme.

London School of Economics report which says that the scheme could easily go 3 times over budget - costing up to £300 for every British citizen who must be subjected to it - although most of the costs will probably be hidden in tax increases.

'Of the 25 countries that have been most adversely affected by terrorism since 1986, eighty per cent have national identity cards, one third of which incorporate biometrics. This research was unable to uncover any instance where the presence of an identity card system in those countries was seen as a significant deterrent to terrorist activity.'

Miscellaneous arguments.

If you are pushed for time, then you could send a free fax to your MP instantly using this website.

There is also a national petition against the ID cards scheme that can be signed here.

Finally, for those of you who wish to resist the scheme if/when it is brought in then you may like to join this campaign

The continuing process of legislative conformism with the EU is probably the British government's main reason for introducing compulsory biometric ID cards and the NIR database. The biometric data and their associated National Identity Register database will give Blair the IT infrastructure he would need to sign the UK up to Phase II of the Schengen Information System. SIS II would contain more data categories, cf. person and object categories than the current implementation of SIS.

Below is a quote from the Home Office website on ID cards and it uses the fact that most EU member states have them and that the EU want biometric data for passports to make it seem inevitable that we must also adopt them sooner or later.

2.Why introduce ID cards?

The Government's decision to proceed with the introduction of a national identity cards scheme is based in part on the fact that we will have to introduce more secure personal identifiers (biometrics) into our passports and other existing documents in line with international requirements. Right across the world there is a drive to increase document security with biometrics. If our citizens are to continue to enjoy the benefits of international travel, as increasing numbers of them are doing we cannot be left behind. It is worth remembering that 21 of the 25 EU Member States (all apart from the UK, Ireland, Denmark and Latvia) have identity cards.

The Council of the European Union has expressed a desire to standardise ID cards across Europe and have mandatory fingerprinting for all EU citizens. The future French electronic ID card will include two biometrics and Sweden has just started issuing biometric ID cards. In order to make Britain part of the EU super-state the government must bring us into line with European norms. However, unlike most European countries, Britain has a proud record of respecting a law-abiding individual's liberty, (at least until recently). We British should not allow this barely elected government to throw one of our most fundamental common law traditions away, just to make it easier for Blair to integrate us into the coming EU super-state.

Thanks for the ping. This is very worrying. I doubt I would accept such a compulsory ID card. One which was required for you to hold down a job, have a bank account etc. It is preparing the way for the mark of the beast. Interesting that it is the fake Christian Tony Blair that wants to push for this.

The (UK) Identity Card FAQ

Revelation 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

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