Thursday
(0)Those who have felt left out by the various cartoon demonstrations recently, and fancy getting out on the streets in support of something they care about have a chance on Monday lunchtime. In my capacity as General Secretary of NO2ID, may I extend an open invitation:
NO2ID and Liberty will be holding an emergency lobby of Parliament on 13th February 2006, when the Identity Cards Bill returns to the Commons for consideration of Lords' amendments. Mr Blair will be wielding the whip for MPs to assent to the nationalisation of the people with as little fuss as possible.
The lobby will take place from 12 noon until 1:00pm on the sundial in Old Palace Yard. This is opposite the St Stephen's Gate entrance to the Houses of Parliament. [Location marked 'H' on this map (pdf)]
This will be your last chance to make a visible protest against the Bill before it goes into the final stages of negotiation between the two houses. And for Samizdata people, it is a rare chance to make common cause with a true rainbow coalition - the fabulous collective of security professionals and technologists, business-people and anti-capitalists, spooks and mooks, great and good, lefties, ultra-lefties, Greens, red-greens, nationalists, internationalists, peaceniks, Old Labourites, New Tories, LibDems, Europhiles, Euroskeptics, Muslims, evangelical Christians, not-so-evangelical Christians, outright pagans, constitutional wonks, geeks, babes, and Trots that are backing the NO2ID campaign.
As always, we shall be laying on some props, but please do bring your own (death-threat-free) banners and placards - the bigger and clearer the better.
To get an idea of numbers, for our own comfort and the helpeful people from Charing Cross police station. we'd appreciate a note to events@no2id.net to let us know if you're intending to come, though it is not obligatory.
End of commercial. Here's the musical version.
"the fabulous collective of security professionals and technologists, business-people and anti-capitalists, spooks and mooks, great and good, lefties, ultra-lefties, Greens, red-greens, nationalists, internationalists, peaceniks, Old Labourites, New Tories, LibDems, Europhiles, Euroskeptics, Muslims, evangelical Christians, not-so-evangelical Christians, outright pagans, constitutional wonks, geeks, babes, and Trots that are backing the NO2ID campaign."
Errmmm..
Just for the record, who, outside the PLP, actually backs this?
Posted by The Pedant-General at February 9, 2006 03:44 PM
T P-G,
Just these people, these people, these people, and these people. Only the last one is concerned to put the matter before the electorate.
Posted by guy herbert at February 9, 2006 04:01 PM
The House of Lords amendments are a significant improvement on the civil liberties front, and also a good contribution to better government. They should be kept, just in case the Bill is not killed.
And here is another advert for the somewhat technical view of a guy who thinks that, on these aspects at least, he knows what he is talking about: http://www.camalg.co.uk/tk051116a/TK051116A_bcs_02.pdf
Best regards
Posted by Nigel Sedgwick at February 9, 2006 04:34 PM
And with the link set up properly:
The House of Lords amendments are a significant improvement on the civil liberties front, and also a good contribution to better government. They should be kept, just in case the Bill is not killed.
And here is another advert for the somewhat technical view of a guy who thinks that, on these aspects at least, he knows what he is talking about:
http://www.camalg.co.uk/tk051116a/TK051116A_bcs_02.pdf
Best regards
Posted by Nigel Sedgwick at February 9, 2006 04:39 PM
Jesus Guy: are you trying to get me fired? Trust me to be sufficiently naive not to know the web address of the Nazis in UK....
PG
Posted by The Pedant-General at February 9, 2006 04:52 PM
Sorry, PG. I guess I'm just not used to being under surveillance. It never occurred to me.
Thank-you, Nigel. A good point.
If the Commons accepts the Lords' amendments, the Bill is massively better. If you do have a Labour MP, it is worth taking a moment to suggest to them that they should allow the National Audit Office to address the budgetary questions (particularly bearing in mind the Home Office's well known numeracy and presentational honesty problems); and that they should also support a genuinely voluntary introductory period, so that the Government has a chance to prove the system works with people who want to be on it, before going the full poll-tax on an unconvinced public.
Posted by guy herbert at February 9, 2006 05:08 PM
Good work on this by the Lords also includes that the Commisioner reports directly to Parliament, and not through the Home Secretary or Prime Minister.
Best regards
Posted by Nigel Sedgwick at February 9, 2006 05:20 PM
