Posted on 11/23/2004 7:49:02 PM PST by RaceBannon
Britain
November 24, 2004
ID cards for all to fight terrorism By Philip Webster and Stewart Tendler
IDENTITY cards will be issued within four years after ministers yesterday made them the centrepiece of their programme for the run-up to the general election. A fierce battle over the issue became certain when Tony Blair backed compulsory ID cards as essential to the fight against terrorism, illegal immigration and organised crime.
From 2008 people applying for passports will have to accept an ID card. Eventually people will need them to obtain public services, such as healthcare. Mr Blair admitted that it would be a “big change” for Britain but added they were “long overdue”. The aim is for everyone to have cards by 2010-12.
The measure has been put at the top of the Government’s legislative queue so that ministers can challenge the main opposition parties to help them to rush it through before an election if and when Mr Blair names May 5 as the date.
He is likely to call the election in late March or earlyat the end of March, or beginning of April and will use the ID cards Bill to try to outflank his opponents over crime. Labour has been buoyed by internal polls suggesting that eight out of ten people back ID cards. The combined passport-ID card will cost £85.
After overriding opposition from within the Cabinet, Mr Blair and David Blunkett have ensured that the Identity Cards Bill, one of several law-and- order measures in yesterday’s Queen’s Speech, is given prior-ity, with a Commons second reading shortly and the Bill reaching the Lords early next year.
The Liberal Democrats will oppose the Bill and the Conservatives said last night that there were serious tests to be passed — on cost, civil liberties, privacy and technology — before they could back the plan. If the Bill fails to get through before the election it will be reintroduced immediately if Labour wins.
Applicants for the new passports and ID cards will have to go to a special centre to provide biometric details, such as a fingerprint, or to have their face or iris scanned and converted into a machine-readable chip. The cards will then be linked to a national register. People will not be required to carry them all the time, but they would have to possess one.
As the Bill and other anti-crime measures were highlighted, Mr Blair and other ministers were fighting to counter accusations that they were deliberately creating a “climate of fear” for electoral reasons.
Among 37 Bills in the programme, eight were from the Home Office as Mr Blunkett promised a new FBI- style organised crime agency, an attack on drug dealers and measures against terrorism, including possibly no-jury trials.
Peter Hain, the Commons Leader, denied that the Government had been responsible for reports yesterday that an al-Qaeda plot to fly hijacked aircraft into skyscrapers at Canary Wharf had been foiled. The Times has established that such an attempt was thwarted more than two years ago.
Mr Hain said he rejected the idea the Government was “pandering to fear”. The Prime Minister insisted to the Commons that he was not “scaremongering.” The terrorist threats were real.
But Liam Fox, the Conservative co-chairman, accused the Government of trying to raise fears of terrorism. “I think that is quite despicable, but it is a desperate government.” Matthew Taylor, the Lib Dem parliamentary chairman, added: “The Government is focusing on fear, whereas the Liberal Democrats offer hope.”
Mr Hain said surveys had shown that more than eight out of ten people wanted ID cards and saw them as a “commonsense security measure”. He dismissed fears that the proposed new measures could infringe civil liberties.
I believe things like this are pre-cursers to the actual Mark of the Anti-Christ.
maybe. the form of government (godless) certainly fits the bill.
I for one am all in favor of taking that risk of the "Mark of the Anti Christ." I want to know who is in this country.
Gee, I've gotten the impression since '01 that this was a done deal. But maybe those Britons are all kooky privacy nuts with something to hide.
Here's something else that'll freak you.
An article today on Fox News discussed how a grocery store is set up to receive payment via fingerprint.
Yes, that's right. Fingerprint. You sign up in the store and scan your fingerprint into their system and submit your checking/credit card info - then anytime you go to that store you just have your fingerprint scanned and the money is deducted from your account.
Read the article above, Blair said that people receiving benefits will be requied to get this card, without which they cannot function in society...
Big Brother has gone global.
We really can't base our policies on what has been written in fictional and even prophetic books. We need to do what is best for society now.
javascript:videoPlayer('112304/fr_serrie_112304','Pay%20by%20Touch','FOX_Report','acc','U.S.%20%26%20World',0);
How about just requiring all citizens to obtain a US passport?
Until the Anti-Christ appears, these things are convenient, even helpful, I agree with some of what you posted.
BUT, they in themselves are PROOF the Bible was accurate in Prophesy, and a person has to be willingly blind to not see this, especially after what has come out in biometrics and trackig devices and electronic control of commerce in the last 3 years alone!
To my knowledge, only Byrd and one other Dem whose name escapes me voted against this in the Senate.
Hang it up, babe. Done deal. The only question now is whether they'll eyeball you or chose some other biometric tag for security's sake.
Thank GOODNESS this is happening on a Republican watch as did the omnibus transportation bill (I feel safer with seatbelk checkpoints, don't you?) and the decision to include private parts in airport security pat-downs (I'm SURE they had good intel on the bra bombs of the Chechen women they've decided took down the Russian jetliners) just for starters.
I can only imagine the abuses that might have ensued if national ID cards had been the purview of evil Demoncrats. Schew. That was a close one.
I feel a sleepy ... mebbe I'll just grab my Security blankie and nap for three years. After all, we're in good hands ... zzz zz zz zzz zzzz zzz
I won't get one. I'll just say that I am an illegal immigrant and they will leave me alone.
Ditto. We see the same complaints every day.,.."What about all these illegal imigrants? They need to be rounded up and deported! We need to know who is a citizen and who is not to guarantee voting accuracy!" Well, the ONLY way to do that is to have a valid form of ID that says one is a citizen. Whether that's some national ID card or SS card or requiring all citizens to have a valid passport, the goals are mutually exclusive. You cannot say that we should know who is here legally and who isn't and then say every attempt to do so is some silly big brother type thing. It's going to be one or the other.
How about this novel idea, we put the bad guys in jail or kill them and leave the good guys alone?
BTW
I'm glad you made it.
You can spoof the fingerprint sensors using a Gummi Bear.
This is an odd thread. The end times stuff mixed with those of us who just want to get from point A to B, and don't have paranoic or conspiratorial tendencies. Cheers.
Annnnd, what do you do if you have NO checking/credit card accounts?
Annnnd, what do you do if the 'system' screws up and your account has TOO MUCH deducted? (you will not have that 'paper trail')
Annnd, what will you do if your fingerprint is scanned (successfully), the money is deducted from your account (successfully), but NOTHING shows up ANYWHERE that you are 'paid-in-full'?????
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.