Skip to main content

Hurrah for the demise of ID cards

In all the moaning and groaning about the new coalition government in the UK, most people seemed to have missed the fact that the ID card programme is to be scrapped.

Personally, I think the moaning is misplaced. It's rubbish to complain about Liberal Democrats betraying people because they've had to compromise to form the coalition. All coalitions involve compromise - and usually it's a good thing. It tempers both parties more loony ideas.

I also can't understand the whingeing about the 55% majority required to be able to dissolve parliament. This kind of arrangement is a standard feature of fixed term parliaments - and is already in place in Scotland. It's pathetic that people are moaning about it. I can only think they don't understand what's going on.

But surely we can all agree that getting rid of the ridiculous ID card scheme is a good idea. Leaving aside the civil liberty issues, and the fact that it would not have done anything to prevent terrorism, it's a great opportunity to make a spending cut - absolutely essential right now - without any negative impact on the country. Nice one, Dave'n'Nick.


Image from Daily Mail website
Labels:

Comments

  1. laurasdad15 May 2010 at 23:42

    I've campaigned against ID cards ever since it was made clear that they would be compulsory.

    I've often said to anyone in earshot that I'd rather go to jail than be forced to have an ID card; on the other hand if they had anything extra to offer over and above a passport or a driving licence (with their photo IDs) then I might be prepared to compromise and enter into my own coalition with the state - but hopefully that's at least 5 years away.

    The real question for me now is what else can be swept away in the name of savings?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brian Clegg17 May 2010 at 09:04

    'Can be' or 'should be'?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous25 January 2011 at 01:50

    "ID cards" ARE compulsory. If you apply for a job you have to prove you have a right to employment. If you open a bank account you need proof of identity. If you need benefits of any type, e.g. medical, you need some sort of ID.

    Few people in the UK would even know how they could live without any sort of ID, and even fewer would want to.

    Yes, there is merit in "trying" to stay off a central database. French Jews paid the ultimate price of having their "ethnicity" indicated on their ID cards in 1940.

    But it is absurd to say that there is no need for some sort of ID, it is absurd to say that we don't have "ID cards" just yet, and it is absurd to say that an "ID card" has to mean a central database where ALL the data is compiled.

    Anyone who understands how data is best safeguarded knows that the current system in the UK is far far worse than just a simple "driving licence" type card, that only confirms identity.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Brian Clegg25 January 2011 at 08:54

    'ID cards' in this context is shorthand for 'the Labour government's ID card scheme, including a central database.'

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why I hate opera

If I'm honest, the title of this post is an exaggeration to make a point. I don't really hate opera. There are a couple of operas - notably Monteverdi's Incoranazione di Poppea and Purcell's Dido & Aeneas - that I quite like. But what I do find truly sickening is the reverence with which opera is treated, as if it were some particularly great art form. Nowhere was this more obvious than in ITV's 2010 gut-wrenchingly awful series Pop Star to Opera Star , where the likes of Alan Tichmarsh treated the real opera singers as if they were fragile pieces on Antiques Roadshow, and the music as if it were a gift of the gods. In my opinion - and I know not everyone agrees - opera is: Mediocre music Melodramatic plots Amateurishly hammy acting A forced and unpleasant singing style Ridiculously over-supported by public funds I won't even bother to go into any detail on the plots and the acting - this is just self-evident. But the other aspects need some exp...
118 comments
Read more

Is 5x3 the same as 3x5?

The Internet has gone mildly bonkers over a child in America who was marked down in a test because when asked to work out 5x3 by repeated addition he/she used 5+5+5 instead of 3+3+3+3+3. Those who support the teacher say that 5x3 means 'five lots of 3' where the complainants say that 'times' is commutative (reversible) so the distinction is meaningless as 5x3 and 3x5 are indistinguishable. It's certainly true that not all mathematical operations are commutative. I think we are all comfortable that 5-3 is not the same as 3-5.  However. This not true of multiplication (of numbers). And so if there is to be any distinction, it has to be in the use of English to interpret the 'x' sign. Unfortunately, even here there is no logical way of coming up with a definitive answer. I suspect most primary school teachers would expands 'times' as 'lots of' as mentioned above. So we get 5 x 3 as '5 lots of 3'. Unfortunately that only wor...
25 comments
Read more

Why backgammon is a better game than chess

I freely admit that chess, for those who enjoy it, is a wonderful game, but I honestly believe that as a game , backgammon is better (and this isn't just because I'm a lot better at playing backgammon than chess). Having relatively recently written a book on game theory, I have given quite a lot of thought to the nature of games, and from that I'd say that chess has two significant weaknesses compared with backgammon. One is the lack of randomness. Because backgammon includes the roll of the dice, it introduces a random factor into the play. Of course, a game that is totally random provides very little enjoyment. Tossing a coin isn't at all entertaining. But the clever thing about backgammon is that the randomness is contributory without dominating - there is still plenty of room for skill (apart from very flukey dice throws, I can always be beaten by a really good backgammon player), but the introduction of a random factor makes it more life-like, with more of a sense...
6 comments
Read more