By Andy McCue, 4 April 2005 11:55
NEWS The UK government has slammed opposition to the controversial biometric ID card bill after admitting it will be forced to shelve the plans after running out of legislative time in the run up to next month's expected general election.
But Home Secretary Charles Clarke has vowed to re-introduce the ID card bill after the election if Labour wins a third term and, in an interview with The Observer at the weekend, he branded Conservative and Liberal Democrat opposition as "crazy".
Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to announce the date of the general election tomorrow. That will signal the start of the frantic 'wash up' period when the government and opposition political parties thrash out an agreement on which bills will be passed or ditched before Parliament is dissolved at the end of the week.
With the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats signalling they will not budge in their opposition to the ID card bill, the government will instead prioritise its limited legislative time before the election on other bills.
Along with pledging to re-introduce the ID card bill after the election, Clarke warned the other parties that Labour will use their opposition as a sign of weakness on crime during the election campaign.
"It will then become an election issue - which it doesn't have to be. If it is, it will be because the Tories and Liberal Democrats have decided to make it an election issue," Clarke told the paper.
Comments
There are 10 comments. Join the discussion
1. chrism
Goodness!
A technology issue becoming a political issue. Now, no-one will talk to me at parties!
2. Ruth
Instead of voters seeing the Tory & Lib Dem opposition to the ID card Bill as the two Parties being 'weak on crime' voters may view it as a Labour determination to erode our civil liberties without any proof that giving up these liberties will make us safer in any way - I am sure there is already a small army of crooks & terrorists out there working on how to produce counterfeit cards
3. anonymous
The problem is, is that they are making millions suffer for the ability to catch a few if they bring in the ID card. It's more like a policed state, might as well go over to communism!
4. Ken Hall
So we have a Home Secretary who wants to lock up anyone he wishes, (was forced to back down), without any evidence, based solely on 'intelligence' (the same intelligence that had no proof of WMD but accepted ownership of the sexed up version of their dossier) and he wants us to carry a manditory trackable ID card linked to a big brother database on steroids.
Add to this their plans to put congestion charging 'pay per mile' trackable chips in cars. So the Government can track you in real time anywhere you drive.
Add to this their plans for compulsary detention for people deemed mentally unstable.
Then add in the knowledge that the Home secretary now believes that anyone who disagrees with him is crazy.
What do we get? a high-tech version of a Communist style police state, or should that be, due to Blairs lap-dog approach to rightwing neo-con extremists in the USA, a high-tech version of a right wing fascist police state?
Either way, the laws and technology being pursued by the labour party allow for you indefinate detention without charge or trial based upon the home secretary's belief that you may be crazy and if you disagree, then you are crazy.
These dangerous people need to be stopped. It turns out that John Major was right with the new labour new, danger posters.
"Liberty shall not of itself flourish but for the careful vigilance of determined souls."
"All that is required for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing"
"First they came for the Communists but I was not a Communist - so I said nothing. Then they came for the Social Democrats, but I was not a Social Democrat - so I did nothing. Then came the trade unionists, but I was not a trade unionist. And then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew - so I did little. Then when they came for me, there was no one left who could stand up for me."
Pastor Niem?r
5. anonymous
The only crazy people are the Home Office politicos who want to force through an unnecessary and unworkable scheme.
Why do they think they can add ID cards to the system when they can't even modify the passport system to meet the demands of the USA.
I've got a passport so I don't need an ID card. In both cases the issue is how do we be sure that when I get my passport or my card I am who I say I am???
6. Karen Challinor
So vote for some other party at the election and I don't necessarily mean the conservatives
7. Jamie Bishop
It was a crap idea anyway. The British were not fooled for a moment, this massive database was more about facism and govt control than terrorism.
8. beavus
stinks of yet another badly thought out idea where the only winner is the outsource companies taking money for bad advice.
1984 here we come.... a bit later on maybe...
9. anonymous
People need protection from government's totalitarian schemes, not the other way round. Mass crimes are invariably perpetrated by over powerful governments. If ID cards are simply a scam to make IT companies shed loads of money at least we could rest at night. However, ID cards have the potential for much worse abuses of power than just money making.
Blair seems like a "nice guy", but who knows and who will be his successor.
10. Suchen
It’ll probably be a waste of time anyway…. The infrastructure to support the ID cards is even more of an expense and challenge than the ID cards themselves. The famous green cards in the US contain biometric data but no scanners were put in place to verify this data due to the expense involved. I hope the ID cards are never implemented but it will be even worse if the job is only half done and a massive amount of money is wasted.