On 9 March 2010 I got a UK National Identity Card. The issuing of it was very efficiently administered, rather like the Swiss experience. I looked forward to being able to use it , but later in 2010 the coalition government idiotically scrapped the whole scheme - so UK identity was thrown back into its previous mess, and all the money which had been sensibly spent sorting it out was wasted. If anyone wants to look for an example of some government expenditure which was, in the end, completely nugatory that is it.
If the ID card also doubled as driving licence and passport great idea. It didn't, it wont, and was just another means of placing burden on the innocent majority to 'prove' something when demanded by a uniformed individual and another reason to tax, sorry fine, law abiding citizens for not carrying. I don't need to prove who I am, i have it written on my bike screen ;-)
Hear hear bradders, I get fed up with some folks saying that if you've got nothing to hide what's the problem,I have nothing to hide and why have I do I have to prove it.Anyway,I can always show them my French one..
An idiotic scheme dreamt up by lefties, who always seek to limit freedom as they spend other peoples money, and sensibly scrapped by right thinking Tories.
A bonus point to anyone who can remember who backed the scheme whilst investing in the company contracted to supply the cards.
Having lived in Germany for a good few years, the Ausweis issued from the age of 16, to all citizens, no problem no fuss, can be used to travel around European Union without a passport. Why we don't have such a thing is beyond me. Just my 2p's worth
The introduction of ANOTHER identity card in the UK is only pandering to the civil service - another excuse for a public body to spend millions on the administration keeping themselves in non productive, non uk income generating roles. Role the passport, driving licence, NHS number, NI card etc into one and reduce the administration (eventually) Alternatively, follow previous european leaders example and tattoo each person with a unique ID code. Preferably at birth so doctors can work a few more hours on their pitiful contract rates.
Thats the idea. Like datatag and if its a bar code it can be used to store useful things like blood group. Then we can scan in and out of every building, so we are always safe in the knowledge that govt dept is looking out for us, and it will stop all crime day one where do I vote...
You press the key pad imbedded into your left buttock with a unique identifying code to vote. It's a bit like an old nokia phone............in fact it is.
Bollocks to ID cards. Best waste of money ever. probably not a rational or erudite argument but bollocks just about sums it up. I still have my paper driving license and I refuse to get it updated with the picture. I'm British. I do not need an ID card. Thats for Germans or Americans. My stiff upper lip and irreverent regard for authority is my ID card. Tally ho
just a bit of froth….and who cares really……….governments spend this amount of money on all sorts of projects and then pull out……..
The UK has and has always had at least five different identity schemes, all of them incompatible with each other, all of them antiquated, and all of them in a mess, including: * registration of births, deaths and marriages * driving licenses * passports * national insurance numbers for tax and benefits * electoral registration We are all members of these schemes, and they are all obsolete systems each of which costs a fortune to operate. All of them are plagued with data errors, duplications and fakery, because none of them has a clear way of linking an actual person to their supposed identity. They are a paradise for fraudsters of every stripe, not to mention terrorists. The previous government, to its credit, eventually resolved to sort out the mess and so a project was started to place national identity onto a secure and consistent footing, operated by a modern RDbMS. It was going well, and was just in the throes of its launch stage in 2010, when the new coalition government idiotically scrapped the project thus wasting all the effort and money which had gone into it (including, incidentally, my fee). Trying to resurrect the obsolete systems and keep them running after a fashion has cost even more. Inevitably the whole job will have to be done again sooner or later.
So in your world Pete, did the previous government ever do anything that wasn't to it's credit ? Go on just one example.
