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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. November 11th, 2003 | 4 comments - (Comments are closed)
 Today the Home Secretary, David Blunkett pushes on with his ‘scheme’ to introduce identity cards to Britain despite considerable opposition from two senior Cabinet colleagues, Gordon Brown and Jack Straw. But Tony’s behind him, so they don’t count. Natch. It might be amusing to watch the man’s pathetic stumble down the Orwellian path, if not for the fact that his totalitarian impulses have a profound impact on freedom and life in this country. And, of course, his actions do nothing to address immigration and welfare fraud, two of the poster-issues for Big Blunkett’s campaign. Not that I want him to do anything about that either, apart from to get the f*** out of that too. But I digress. The Telegraph article linked above talks about unveiled plans for a new national identity card with his [Blunkett’s] most forceful argument yet in favour of the scheme. I would expect them to reproduce or at least hint at the ‘most forceful argument yet’ in the article. This is all I found:
Indeed, that is so not Big Brother, you Big Blunkett. White Rose has a post or two about this as well as a link to the official Home Office document (pdf). November 11th, 2003 | 18 comments - (Comments are closed)
I have received the official document produced by the Home Office and presented to the Parliament this month, outlining the stages of the plan to introduce identity card in Britain. It is called Identity Cards The Next Steps. You will find a permanent link to the document (pdf) on the right in the links section. November 11th, 2003 | 2 comments - (Comments are closed)
Anyone who thought recent events meant that the campaign against ID Cards had been won should think again. Big Blunkett has just made a statement in the House and made it quite clear that he still intends to force compulsory National Identity Cards on innocent British citizens. Blunkett discussed a timetable for introducing compulsory ID Cards. He left no doubt about compulsion, beginning his speech with the words:
His plan is to proceed in two phases. The first phase will be the introduction of biometrics through renewal of passports and driving licence. As soon as the database is available foreigners wishing to stay in the country would be issued with an ID Card and there would be a ‘voluntary’ scheme for British those few citizens without a driving license or passport. The second phase will be compulsion. Blunkett mentioned civil liberties only once, blithely stating that they would be safeguarded without addressing the issues. As usual, when answering questions he descended into personal abuse to cover his lack of intellectual rigour. Big Blunkett remains as much a threat as ever and must be stopped. Cross-posted from The Chestnut Tree Cafe November 11th, 2003 | Comments are closed
Via the inevitable and ubiquitous Instapundit, a new blog by Clayton Cramer devoted to chronicling the use of firearms in self-defense.
November 11th, 2003 | 2 comments - (Comments are closed)
The BBC has appointed a “Middle East policeman” to oversee its coverage of the region amid mounting allegations of anti-Israeli bias. Malcolm Balen, a former editor of the Nine O’Clock News, has been recruited in an attempt to improve the corporation’s reporting of the Middle East and its relationship with the main political players. Mr Balen, who left the BBC three years ago, will work full-time with the official title of “senior editorial adviser”. Another way to describe this is the expression ‘putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound’. Yeah, that will fix it. November 11th, 2003 | 14 comments - (Comments are closed)
Oh God, he’s back. Last Friday there were the good news in the media that the ID card plans have been put on hold. This morning, SkyNews reported that Big Blunkett is expected to announce a bill to introduce ID cards today. His ‘compromise’ to the bitter opposition in the Cabinet is to make the scheme voluntary to begin with. And there I was thinking it was meant to be voluntary all along. It is rare to see a more blatant crusade by a public figure in the face of evidence and opposition. Granted, the opposition to ID cards in Britain is not vociferous enough and it is time to turn up the volume. Trevor has set up an iCan campaign agaist identity cards and there are others with similar concerns. Let’s see what is to be done… November 11th, 2003 | Comments are closed
Time for me to take a break from all this lofty philosophising about the state of the world and indulge in a little bit of schoolboy humour, made possible by this BBC report on the death of the former Zimbabwean President, Canaan Banana:
The Bananas Split!
November 11th, 2003 | 6 comments - (Comments are closed)
And quite eminent men to boot:
They may not get the debate they want as it is highly likely to be scuppered. Even if they get the debate they want it may not produce the result they want. And even if it does produce the result they want said result will have no legal or political effect whatsoever. But it will have an effect, albeit a marginal one. To date, the idea of British withdrawal from the EU has been unthinkable in any respectable circles. It is the Great British Political Taboo. Discuss our relations with Europe by all means and criticise the EU if you must but suggest we pull out?!! Are you mad? But the problem with taboos of this nature is that they will not bend so they can only break and it only takes a few people to start thinking the unthinkable before they begin to look fragile. If people start saying the unthinkable (and keep saying it) then it is only a matter of time before the cracks begin to appear. We are not there yet. Not even close. But if more people just keep talking publicly about withdrawal then that emboldens others to do the same and eventually the drip, drip effect begins to eat away at the consensus. What starts as a few whispered heresies can grow into a chorus of raucous disapproval. So, more and faster please. November 11th, 2003 | 28 comments - (Comments are closed)
Patrick Crozier of Transport Blog links to this piece from last August at Tollroadnews about the EU banning one kind of road pricing technology, in order to make things easier for its own preferred sort of technology. Here’s what the EU wants to ban:
And they want to replace it with their own pet satellite based system. I always want to believe the worst of the EU, and unimpeded by any facts, I do. In this instance, I assume that the technology that the EU is engaged in banning is better from the civil liberties point of view than the technology it favours, and that this is part of why it is banning what it is banning. It doesn’t supply as much in the way of incidental snooping and central surveillance as the kit it wants to use. Tollroadnews assert that it’s a bodge of the worst sort, because the new kit will work worse than the old kit. But if it could be made to work, would the system the EU wants be more centralised and Big Brotherish, or from this particular point of view is there no great difference? Obviously, comments welcome. November 10th, 2003 | 2 comments - (Comments are closed)
November 10th, 2003 | 18 comments - (Comments are closed)
It would appear that the little village of Norderfriedrichskoog in Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of just 45 inhabitants, has 500 registered companies including subsidiaries of conglomerates like Deutsche Bank, Lufthansa and power giant e.ON Why? Because the town does not charge business tax, that is tax on profits. And the firms have saved €300 million in the last decade. German Finance Minister Hans Eichel is desperate to get his mitts on this loot and wants to ‘reform’ local authority finances. According to Eichel’s plans, all local authorities must set a minimum rate for local business taxes. And there was me thinking Germany was a federation. Wouldn’t the states have something to say about this? I guess Eichel is simply following the EU trend of ‘harmonisation’, ie raising upwards to the highest common denominator. Mark Holland November 10th, 2003 | 9 comments - (Comments are closed)
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