We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.

Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]

ID cards on TalkSport Radio tonight

I’m to be on Talk Sport Radio tonight at 10.30pm, talking about ID cards, unless something bigger happens between now and then and they cancel. I’ll do my best, which probably wouldn’t be as good as some of the other luminaries here. Or here and here.

I’ll probably only be on for a minute or two, but it’s a stimulus to educate myself. I’ll try to strengthen my grip on the subject by working my way down this lot.

4 comments to ID cards on TalkSport Radio tonight

  • Good luck! I’ve never heard Whale on TalkSport but from what I remember of his TV show he used to trivialise important issues. You might have to be prepared to deal with some very primitive debate.

  • Don’t let James Whale intimidate you, even though he will probably be keen to get on to his featured guest the “inventor of new testicles for your dog – Neuticles” !

    His show lasts until 1.30am, so in theory he could afford to give the topic of ID Cards quite a bit of airtime.

    Try a few “sound bite” phrases like “ID Card Poll Tax” or “Biometrics – the password you can never revoke, even when the system is compromised”.

    Blunkett’s ID card announcements today do not clasify just which Biometrics they intend to use, Iris Scans, Single Fingerprints, Ful Set of Fingerprints, Facial Recognition etc. – each option will have radically different levels of security and cost.

    Even under the announced plans, EU nationals will be able to enter and work in the UK for up to 3 months without being required to have a UK ID Card, which makes a mockery of the anti-terrorist “justification.”

  • Was it actually broadcast? I listened from 1020 to 1135 and heard neither hide nor hair of you.

  • Brian Micklethwait

    Patrick:

    Sorry to have inconvenienced you. It was broadcast, having only been recorded at the time stated. Apparently it went out at about 3.15 am the next morning. Global fame at last. I know this because Chris Tame rang me Wednesday mid-day. He said I did okay.

    The questioning was friendly, but that can sometimes be a trap. I was invited to say that my country was going Nazi, but I turned this invite down, saying instead that although ID cards are necessary for Nazism they are not sufficient. But, I added, if they were trying to go Nazi, this is one of the things they would definitely be doing, and that’s all part of why so many people find the thing creepy.

    Arguing that I, and lots of others, don’t want the damn things is all part of arguing that they shouldn’t do it, because if lots of people do resist these things, it’ll all surely be far more trouble than it is worth.