By Andy McCue, 10 June 2005 08:10
NEWS silicon.com's ID Cards on Trial campaign is calling on supporters to get involved and take action by contacting their MP.
Our campaign is challenging the government on the unrealistic cost estimates, shifting scope and unproven technology proposed for the UK's £5.8bn national ID card scheme, which we believe is shaping up to become another costly IT disaster on the basis of current proposals.
The campaign already has the backing of cross-party politicians, academics, IT industry technical experts and many silicon.com readers.
Now we are asking silicon.com readers and other supporters of our campaign to write or email their MP with the concerns we have outlined.
All you need to do is print off this page and this page (or you could email them with the links) and send it to your local MP with a letter voicing your opposition to the current ID card proposals and asking them to raise your concerns in parliament.
If you don't know who your MP is or don't know their contact details, you can find out by searching under name or constituency on the UK parliament website or by searching under your postcode here.
Get writing and emailing and be sure to forward any responses to us here at editorial@silicon.com.
Comments
There are 19 comments. Join the discussion
1. Roger Huffadine
Wrote to my MP - Michael Foster - again about ID Cards - got the same sort of reply..
"Thank you for your e-mail of 1st June on the subject of ID cards. As you know I disagree in principle with your arguments but agree that the system needs to be fully tested."
Interesting that one can disagree 'in principle' with technological argument.
2. Geraint Bevan
This is an excellent campaign by Silicon.com. Writing to MPs is definitely the best thing that can be done to combat the scheme.
Readers who want to send personal messages to their MPs might find the website http://www.writetothem.com to be useful.
Those who wish to get more involved in the fight against compulsory ID cards and the National Identity Register should consider joining the No2ID campaign: http://www.no2id.net
3. John Edyvane
If you really want me to email my MP, why are you asking me to print off two of your pages (and presumably combine them) instead of producing a single page with coherent information which I can then copy to my MP. Better still, why not provide fax pages for all MPs in the UK which people can click on to deliver the message? [Ed note: Great idea, John. In fact, why not just give us your details and we'll write off to your MP for you and save you the hassle of printing off two web pages. Anything else we can do for you while we're at it - moon on a stick, maybe?]
4. John W
RE: Michael Foster
Sounds like Roger and I vote in the same neck of the woods. Is this the same Michael Foster who resigned his Government post "on principle" over Iraq but was back like a rocket when it came time to get back on the party bandwagon to secure his seat (and income) for another term at the election? Says it all about so called "principles" in the majority of our MPs doesn't it?
5. Phil Tarrant
Excellent campaign,RFID, Black Boxes, ID Cards this all makes us "free" from "terrorism" ??
Further to previous posting, as many MP's are are in the technological dark ages, try http://www.faxyourmp.com
6. Ian Stroud
Writing to my MP is fine in theory, except that I haven't got one. Having been abroad for more than fifteen years I have no right to vote, as far as I know, no MP and no way of influencing decisions thst affect me. Apparently democracy is a wonderful thing, especially if you can select to whom it applies...
7. Nicholas Wright
the whole thing is going to be a unwarranted drain on our taxes. projects of this sort are famous for quoting a cost estimate that is designed to get the project accepted and not killed on cost grounds. it'll probably end up being 3 times as much and then the practicalities of the whole scheme will prove both incomplete and fallible. worse of course is the reason given to justify it, anti-terrorist security: not so and least a more plausible reason would be to counter state benefit fraud; but there must be more prsctical ways of overcoming that than this pie-in-the-sky scheme.
8. lardy
surely id cards are a great idea - like a modern day passport. sure there are likely to be teething troubles with such an impressive scheme but so long as their usage is phased in carefully then they should prove a massive asset. most of us already have many online identities & the resulting situation is anarchic with no trustworthy advice to the man in the street as to what's safe and what's not. in the long run this could be the answer to all these identity issues and for that to happen it's got to start somewhere.
9. John Wilson
The Biggest IT disaster? Unlikely!
From what I've heard from friends who've worked for BT on the NHS IT project, that's already a monumental mess, with zero moral amongst the "groundworkers", poor apps that don't perform, and a management with no awareness of how to manage technical staff under duress. All helped along by BT's HR dept who seem to think that the largely contract workforce are just bodies doing jobs that can be filled by any semi skilled worker.
At an estimated cost of £30bn for the NHS project (up from initial estimate of £5bn), I think the ID card project will have to go some to catch up!
10. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT
Totally against ID CARDS.
Do I want to put myself out of a job!
I don't need a minimum wage, pension, sick pay, holiday pay.
The poorest people in society like labourers, cleaners, farm workers and shop staff can take a good long rest while people like me get given those jobs by Employers that have very high ethical standards and know that manual workers don't really need the money and afterall the south east of Britain and London in particular is one of the cheapest places in the world in which to live. Long live this country of thriving equality, where numerous groups of poor people are forced to fight for the most poorly paid jobs in society, everyone wins, the CBI (mouth piece of big business), Employers and Government ensures that the plebians(plebs) know their place in society!
11. anonymous
I cant figure all this oposition to ID Cards I cant wait to get mine so that I can travel arround Europe with out a passport like other Europeans.
I think the oposition is totally misguided.
12. anonymous
*cough* http://www.faxyourmp.com/ *cough*
13. Simon
Most people who object to the current proposals are not actually against ID cards per-se, but against a project which will give the government of tomorrow a VERY powerful tool for control of the population (unless all future governments are 100% honest and humble and resist the temptation to use it), will cost a damn fortune, will probably make some problems worse (such as identity theft), and quite frankly will do bugger all about other problems (like terrorism).
In reality, it will probably end up as a total farce, having cost us 6 ? 12 ? 18 ? billion pounds ! People who know about the technology proposed have said that it isn't reliable enough, the trials have demonstrated it as well.
It will involve a huge database, with personal data to be used for identification which cannot be changed when it gets compromised - no one believes that the government will be able to keep this secure enough, and even the Data Protection registrar has criticised the plans.
How long until the cards carriage at all times is compulsory ? How long then until regular document checks happen ?
Won't happen ? Can't happen ? History tells us that it can and could.
Papiren Bitte ?
14. Charles Clarke
Hey Mr Sales Director from Essex who "can't wait to get my ID card" - why the anonymous post? After all, if you have nothing to hide.....
15. Geoff Osbaldestin
I emailed my MP, (Congleton - Ann Winterton) and got a phoned response in an hour, saying she would vote with the Conservative Party which would be no at the next reading.
16. anonymous
Its OK to write to your MP by if He/She is in favour of all this, a typical Blare-ite then you're not going to get anywhere fast.
17. anonymous
Why is IT always touted as the solution to almost all of society's ills, including the NHS?
Because of the money to be made, pure and simple. Succeed or fail the companies, the contractors and the government get paid.
Who loses?
I think we all know the answer to that one.
18. Ruth
Any politician may need to think of the fact that :
1. He/she is meant to be there to carry out the wishes of the people who voted them in
2. There will be another Election - just because they got voted in as an MP once doesn't meant the public will vote for them again.........
For both those reasons, I will be contacting my MP - I can also check which way he votes on the day & that will be one of the factors as to whether or not I vote for him again next time round.
19. Ruth
Well, I've e-mailed my MP (Robert Syms)- now let's see if I get a response - and what it is.....