Under the watchful gaze of Winston Churchill, NO2ID held an hours' vigil today (Monday) in a corner of Parliament Square that is stands for liberty, privacy and freedom from the powers of the state.
In funereal black, NO2ID and Liberty mourned the short memory and lack of sense that leads this government to reintroduce ID cards and the National Identity Register, 53 years after Churchill scrapped the compulsory ID card system brought in during the war.
The proceedings were watched with interest by the authorities, including
Charing Cross constabulary and the all-seeing eyes of our database state
- costumes provided by Liberty depicting giant, unblinking eyes, watching me,
watching you. The group was moved on after an hour and a half, with police
claiming the polystyrene breastplates of the costumes, not unlike police
body armour, looked like explosives.
After all that Churchill and the servicemen of the Second World War did to save us from oppression by authoritarian regimes, the Government seems intent on introducing what the Bow Group describe as "the preserve of fascist and communist states" - ID cards, police powers of stop, scan and swab, and arrest without trial.
Phil Booth, national coordinator for NO2ID, said:
"It is a terrible thing to see the government rushing to recreate mistakes from the past, especially when the price that will be paid is so dear - intrusion by the state, loss of privacy and a means to institutionalise racial prejudice within Britain's multicultural society. And that's not to mention the £100 cost for each adult over 16 and over £5.5bn of taxpayers money.
"Churchill must turn in his grave to see this after all he had done. If he were here now, he would urge politicians of all parties who truly support freedom to join NO2ID and campaign against them as he did in 1951, under the banner: "Set the people free!"
The NO2ID Campaign
Box 412
19-21 Crawford Street
London W1H 1PJ
enquiries@no2id.net
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7340 6077
Press: click here
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