Hear From Your MP from Lee Scott
Posted by Lee Scott, MP for Ilford North, at 17:25, Mon 20 March 2006:
When the Identity Cards Bill was first introduced in a previous guise before the 2005 General Election, the Conservatives had serious concerns over the cost-effectiveness of the scheme and whether or not the technology exists to make the system workable. It was decided it would be right to give the Government the opportunity to answer these concerns.
The sad reality is that the Government has totally failed to come up with meaningful answers. They will not even tell us how much the scheme will cost taxpayers on the grounds of commercial confidentiality. The Opposition offered to go into a secret sitting of the House of Lords, but the Government declined. However, a London School of Economics research team has put the likely costs close to £18bn, or £300 per person. The report on feasibility of the technology recently published by the Home Office indicates the present unreliability of biometric identification. Furthermore, this Governments record of delivery of IT projects on time and on budget is nothing short of appalling.
Liberty believes that the ID scheme “…will fail to tackle terrorism, identity fraud or any of the high-profile problems it is purportedly designed to address.” I have to say that I believe their views are correct.
The introduction if ID card is enormous erosion of civil liberties in this country. It will fundamentally alter the relationship between citizen and state. We will need to hope that every official in every agency with access to this data is 100% honest or this information could easily be misused.
Please let me know what you think on this issue.
Lee Scott MP
Comments
Commenting on this message is now disabled.
Posted by Susana Posada, 12:55, Tue 21 March 2006: (Is this post abusive?) #
I agree partly with what was said. ID cards are not going to stop terrorism, let's be honest, it wouldn't be that hard to get on a train and blow it up or on a bus, yes of course there is allot of planning that goes behind such a vile plan, but how would ID cards deter so called "Suicide bombers"?
On the other hand, I think that ID cards would be a good idea (Without the bio-metric data) for proof of age, or when you pay for an item with a debit card you have to show proof of ID. This is what they use the cards for in America and I believe it does deter fraud, especially if the cards are done to a high level.
I think it would be a complete waste of money to only issue these cards for the sake of Terrorism as this would not help identify them before hand.
I believe there would be much better ways of handling terrorism than the ID cards, and have honestly some things are a little too late. The fact that people protested in London with threats should have been taken alot more seriously than it was and arrests should have been made immediatly and they should have been deported.
I believe that people that come to this country from another country should not try to change our country and it's rules, there has been so much bending for other cultures "Their human rights" etc, but if we go to a foreign country and we do not follow by their rules, they would not give us the benefit of the doubt for being a tourist. They choose to come to this country, and are free to leave if they do not like the desicions made and the laws that have been passed.
There are many different communities and law abiding citizens from each one, but we shouldn't have to be made to deal with the ones that would like to harm this country. ID cards are only good for one thing, bringing down fraud, protecting the young and helping identify a person in an accident.
Posted by Pratik Parekh, 15:54, Tue 21 March 2006: (Is this post abusive?) #
I believe that these ID cards will not stop terrorism. Unless of course they possess some magical powers that control the way we think! There should be absolutely no reason for the government wanting to know every detail about us, we do not want to live in a police state, which is the direction this government seem to be taking it. The best route is a referendum, let the people have an official say, because as we all know, people know what is best for the people! We have many forms of ID as it is, passports, driving licences, credit cards - surely we do not need another one that holds all the same details. I agree with Mr. Scott, the idea is preposterous and we will be sat here paying (literally) for more mistakes by the government - just like The Dome was and just like the Olympics will be!
Pratik Parekh, Clayhall
Posted by Samia Mazid, 21:17, Tue 21 March 2006: (Is this post abusive?) #
Driver's licences, passports and bills are sufficient to prove our likeness, age and address.
*No-one* has the right to store personal biometric data such as fingerprints/iris scans/DNA, especially on a database controlled by a government that I and others have come to distrust. I don't have anything to hide, but I certainly fear what the government might do with their database.
There is no way I am paying for this, and the idea that it is voluntary when you cannot renew your passport or use various public services without one shows that that claim is ridiculous.
A determined criminal will not be fazed by ID cards anyway, so what is the point of having them?