Digital ID cards in the news again.

[Workingman]

Blair and Hague have put forward an argument for them.

I am not against ID cards, but for me all they need is my Name, Address, DoB, NI number and a photo - that's it. Well. perhaps my NHS number and blood type - for accidents or emergencies..

What Blair and Hague propose is driving licence number, right to live and work in the UK, and even our educational qualifications. Why?

We don't all have driving licenses or passports, and our educational qualifications are of no business to anyone but us.

It is people like Blair and Hague who put people off ID cards because of what they "might" become in the future. The conspiracy theorists claim they will go further, and Blair and Hague give them ammunition.

[Suff]

For me it is a NO. They don't need to know and there are other forms of ID which, if people need it, you can get. OK they cost money. But if anyone thinks that a damaged ID card will be free to replace, then they need to think again. We had this in the Army time after time, ID cards that went through the washing machine by accident.

What WM suggests is reasonable but I have a built in aversion to governments demanding I have an ID. Today I choose a driving license and choose a passport. Nobody forces me to have ID.

With an ID card you do not get to choose. The Government mandates and once they have started down that road, scope will creep. Witness the Belgian ID card which started out the way WM's card is specified to be. Today the Belgian ID card now has a certificate built in and people use it to log into their banking and to vote. It contains huge information about the person all protected by this certificate.

So it all comes down to "can you trust". With a n - 5 year cycle with governments, of which the governments can be radically different, how can you guarantee trust?

So my take is you just don't go there in the first place. Then you don't have to

[TheOstrich]

I haven't had a passport for years, relying on my driving licence for photo ID. I'm not paying £90-odd or whatever it is these days just to prove who I am.

In the past, I've never been in favour of ID cards but I suspect their coming is pretty inevitable now. No objection to them these days - as long as they're free.

[Suff]

as long as they're free.

So is the noose they tie round your neck. You only notice when they start to tie off the rope and you continue to fall.....

This is how I do PM work so I know the way it operates. First I let my adversaries dig their own grave and then I stand by, politely, and ask if they want to jump into it or do as I ask.

[Workingman]

Err, what does being a PM have to do with ID cards?

You get told what to do, same as the rest of us, and then tell others what they must do.

We, on the other hand, are free to choose which way we vote, Nobody, not even a superstar PM, tells us how to vote. We go our own way.

But...back to the issue, there are very few times when I need to prove who I am, so which ID is acceptable? Driving licence, passport, bus pass? Or could one simple card do the job?

Yes, of course it could.

[miasmum]

I don't have photographic ID at the moment so I would very much like an ID card please but I would like it to be free.

[JanB]

We have a card that shows your passport number, residençia number (or citizen number) nhs number, driving licence number, d.o.b.

Saves having to carry everything around.

It also has picture of you. Just as bad as the passport one, but hey ho

[cruiser2]

I have to show my driving licence when I go to the local council dump.
This was introduced to stop people from other areas who charge, coming in to dump rubbish.
My passport expires in 2027. So I don't think I will have to renew it.

[Suff]

Err, what does being a PM have to do with ID cards?

Control by stealth. Turns out I am quite good at it so I recognise when it is being done to me.

[Suff]

I don't have photographic ID at the moment so I would very much like an ID card please but I would like it to be free.

Don't be daft. It costs hundreds of millions to create and control ID cards. So, yes, you will be issued with one for free. Thereafter the opportunities for cost are legion.

Just like a driving license, every time you move they will demand you notify them then charge for changes. Every time you open a bank account the government will be notified.

Every 10 years you will have to produce a certified picture and get it renewed, just like your driving license. Once you go down this path there is no end to it and once we are stupid enough to let them do this to us for "convenience", they are never going to let it go.

Those who have never lived with an ID card forced upon them will never understand just how fundamentally it changes things. Yes some countries do a "light" touch because their attitude to civil service is short on civil and lacking in service. The UK is not one of them.