On the same day that the date of the general election was announced, Charles Clarke confirmed that the ID Cards Bill would be dropped – until after the election. Instead the government is likely to concentrate on ensuring other legislation such as the Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill is complete before Parliament is dissolved.
That Bill is not uncontroversial itself, so perhaps coming just weeks after the all-night session that was required to pass the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and observing the speed with which the government has rammed these, the ID Cards Bill and others through the Commons, it is no surprise to see members of the Labour faithful registering their unease.
A Labour party prospective candidate and councillor from Lancashire has resigned from the Labour party and switched allegiances to the Liberal Democrats, stating his reasons to be the “increasingly authoritarian” nature of the government.
Stephen Wilkinson, who will not be standing for election, said:
“I felt that the Labour Party has become much more authoritarian, that there is a total lack of interest in terms of individual rights within the country. I don’t agree with Identity cards – I seriously oppose them – and the idea of people being locked up in their own homes without a court case and proper trial is ridiculous. I just physically didn’t feel I could be part of the Labour party.”
Wilkinson joins the ranks of other dismayed Labour voters, Labour councillors who voted for motions rejecting ID cards, and twenty-five Labour MPs who voted against the Bill in Parliament. Not to mention the many members of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, the Joint Committee on Human Rights, the Lords Select Committee on the Constitution who have all come to the conclusion that the scheme is a shocker.
Those politicians from all parties who insist on inflicting upon the UK this unworkable, illiberal, ineffective and dangerous scheme would be wise to reflect the turning tide of public opinion against them and the tenuous nature of their jobs in the coming weeks.The NO2ID Campaign
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