U.K. lawmakers have agreed to a compromise proposal that will see ID cards become mandatory for British passport holders by 2010.
Previously the ID cards bill, which the House of Lords rejected five times over the past few weeks, required anyone renewing a passport to also receive an ID card by 2008.
The amendments mean that until 2010, those renewing passports will be able to opt out of receiving an ID card but will still have their biometric and other personal details entered into the National Identity Register, the database which ID card opponents have objected to along with the issuing of the actual cards.
In a vote on Wednesday, the House of Lords approved the amended proposal by 287 to 60.
U.K. Home Secretary Charles Clarke said pricing for the ID cards will be determined once the bill becomes law.
U.K. Home Office Minister Andy Burnham said he was "delighted" to back the amended proposal and added that it "preserves the integrity" of the National Identity Register while "meeting the concerns" of those who opposed mandatory ID cards.
It's odd how the countries that proudly stood up...
against the Nazis now wish to become the Nazis themselves... kinda makes you question what their motives were back in WWII, was it to stop the Evil of Nazi Germany, or just a method to getting rid of the competition?
People in the UK, where are you? What's wrong with you, where's your outrage? I'll admit the US took a while to get their outrage to the surface after 9/11, but it's now starting to happen, but why are the brits being so complient?
It's particularly galling for us Brits, because we've never had a requirement to carry ID before. Unlike in the US, where it's an offense to fail to produce ID upon the request of a police officer, we've never had to. In the UK the officer has to demonstrate that someone is likely to have committed a 'serious arrestable offense' before damanding identification. We don't even have to carry our driver's licence to operate a vehicle. There is the presumption that free citizens of a free country have the right to live in peaceful anonimity.
When the UK Government first tried to sell ID cards to the country, they claimed the cards were necessary for "the war on terror." When it was pointed out to them that the 9/11 hijackers, the Madrid bombers and the 7/7 bombers in London all used legitimate ID in their own names, and therefore would not have been caught by the ID card scheme, the argument quickly changed. Now, ID cards were necessary to prevent illegal immigration and social security fraud. Riiight.
It's clear that the UK Government is addicted to social control. Like all politicians, they can't stand the idea of a big, messy society that they can't push around. With ID cards, they'll have the greatest tool for social oppression since IBM gave the Nazis tabulating machines.
It's interesting, while businesses are looking to find more ways to protect Personal Information, our governments are finding more ways to collect it... individuals and businesses must take it upon themselves to do what they can to maintain personal information integrity. <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.essentialsecurity.com/learn_more.htm" target="_newWindow">http://www.essentialsecurity.com/learn_more.htm</a>
Chamtech's spray-on antenna uses a nano material to provide a low-power boost to antenna range. The wireless-in-a-can product may some day bring an end to unsightly cell towers.
Tommy Jordan, the man who shot his daughter's laptop for YouTube, gets a visit from police and child protection services. Oh, and Good Morning America.
Along with green-lighting Google's buy of Motorola, the Justice Department today OKs an Apple-Microsoft-RIM partnership deal to buy Nortel patents, and Apple's plan to acquire Novell patents.
EnerG2 opens a plant to make an engineered carbon that will improve performance of energy storage devices and make storage for start-stop hybrid cars less expensive.
"Never Stop Playing" campaign for upcoming portable marks Sony's largest platform launch marketing spend, with ads to reach YouTube, Facebook, TV, and billboards in major cities.
As UC Berkeley students, the co-founders of "Back to the Roots" discovered they could grow mushrooms using recycled coffee grounds. Now their mushroom kit sells at grocery stores across the country.
Standing Ovations for
AARON RUSSO's new movie!
America
FROM FREEDOM TO FASCISM
VIEW THE TRAILER:
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://freedomtofascism.com" target="_newWindow">http://freedomtofascism.com</a>
General Release this summer, Screenings nationwide now!
People in the UK, where are you? What's wrong with you, where's your outrage? I'll admit the US took a while to get their outrage to the surface after 9/11, but it's now starting to happen, but why are the brits being so complient?
When the UK Government first tried to sell ID cards to the country, they claimed the cards were necessary for "the war on terror." When it was pointed out to them that the 9/11 hijackers, the Madrid bombers and the 7/7 bombers in London all used legitimate ID in their own names, and therefore would not have been caught by the ID card scheme, the argument quickly changed. Now, ID cards were necessary to prevent illegal immigration and social security fraud. Riiight.
It's clear that the UK Government is addicted to social control. Like all politicians, they can't stand the idea of a big, messy society that they can't push around. With ID cards, they'll have the greatest tool for social oppression since IBM gave the Nazis tabulating machines.
Orwell was right, he just got the year wrong.
Standing Ovations for
AARON RUSSO's new movie!
America
FROM FREEDOM TO FASCISM
VIEW THE TRAILER:
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://freedomtofascism.com" target="_newWindow">http://freedomtofascism.com</a>
General Release this summer, Screenings nationwide now!
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.essentialsecurity.com/learn_more.htm" target="_newWindow">http://www.essentialsecurity.com/learn_more.htm</a>