[no2id-supporters] NO2ID Newsletter No.75

Thu Jul 5 17:08:23 BST 2007

    NO2ID Supporters' Newsletter No. 75 - 5th July 2007

* Contacting us:* Call or email the office - 020-7793-4005 or 
(office at no2id.net). Please do not reply to this email. (The from address 
is not a working email address)

      TIME TO DEMAND REAL CHANGE

The new Prime Minister has promised change. He wants to re-establish 
trust. He needs to hear that the best way for him to demonstrate a break 
with the past is to drop the current ID scheme. 

Both the Commons and the Lords are conducting inquiries into 
'surveillance society'. Despite all the posturing and tough talk, very 
little has yet been done. NOW is the time to act.

Please take the time to write to your MP. Today. If not today, this week.

If your MP is Labour and/or in favour of ID cards (you can check your 
MP's voting record at http://www.theyworkforyou.com - ID cards are one 
of the key issues listed) you must challenge their misconceptions. Show 
them that support for the scheme is falling, not growing. It may not 
take just one letter. Be patient and polite, but insist that the scheme 
be dropped.

If your MP already opposes ID cards, ask that they demand a fundamental 
reconsideration of the ID scheme and data sharing at every opportunity. 
The database state is being constructed a piece at a time and ID cards 
are not the only problem.

DON'T FORGET TO DRAW YOUR MP'S ATTENTION TO UPCOMING VOTES, e.g. on the 
over-broad data sharing measures in the Serious Crime and UK Borders 
Bills, and on the 'ContactPoint' (formerly known as the Children's IS 
Index) Regulations. For the latter, it's also worth writing to peers.
--

*LOBBYING GUIDE*
Your letter can be much more effective if you follow these simple 
guidelines:

   1. Make sure you know who your MP is and only contact that person -
      use http://www.writetothem.com MPs have no choice but to pass on
      letters from non-constituents to their own MPs.
   2. Be polite. Write as you would wish to be written to. If you are
      rude, snotty and sarcastic or ascribe the worst possible motives
      to the MP then you have immediately lost the argument.
   3. Don't exaggerate, be insulting, or arrogant or invent
      conspiracies. And don't make threats - especially "if you support
      this, I won't vote for you". It doesn't work.  
   4. Write your own letter. Don't cut and paste. 10 individual letters
      on ID cards will carry far more weight than 100 identical ones it
      took 20 seconds to copy, paste and send.
   5. Be specific - focus, e.g. on the costs or the amount of data
      stored, the risks and inconvenience or unworkable technology. Show
      you know your subject, don't just have a general moan.
   6. Keep it short. One or two pages. An absolute maximum of three. No
      more.
   7. If you don't get a reply after about 3 weeks, send a polite
      reminder. Some MPs have huge amounts of casework that must take
      priority. Don't assume you are being ignored.

- Adapted from NO2ID's lobbying guide, a full version of which can be 
downloaded here: 
http://www.no2id.net/downloads/print/NO2ID-HowtoLobby.pdf [21KB PDF file]

      What's next?

        Local groups news

We have local groups all over the country and in 36 of the 69 locations 
of ID interrogation centres (see 
www.no2id.net/getInvolved/idCentres.php). If you can help to set up a 
local group in one of the remaining towns then please contact us at 
(office at no2id.net). A full list of local groups can be found at 
www.no2id.net/localGroups

        Manchester NO2ID calls for "Students against ID" volunteers

Manchester NO2ID are looking for people who are interested in helping 
out with a Students Against ID society in the next academic year, both 
at Manchester University and at other universities across the 
North-West. It won't involve a lot of work - just organising a presence 
at Fresher's Fair (last year the stall was manned entirely by NO2ID 
volunteers), maintaining a list of contacts (the Student's Union should 
provide a facility for this) and organising a termly meeting. The 
National Identity Register is likely to hit students early on - either 
because they're more likely to need a first-time adult passport, or 
because they'll need an ID card to get a student loan. There are other 
things we'd *like* a student society to do, but just to get the basics 
right would be a start and not much work. If you're at all interested, 
whether you'd be prepared to shoulder the responsibility yourself or 
just help someone else out, please drop an e-mail to manchester at no2id.net

        Still showing - "Taking Liberties" documentary film featuring
        NO2ID at cinemas around the country

The documentary which features NO2ID is still showing at cinemas across 
the UK. The film is described as "a shocking but hilarious polemic 
documentary that charts the destruction of all your Basic Liberties 
under 10 Years of New Labour". More info at 
http://www.noliberties.com/cinema.htm

        Saturdays 1pm - 3pm - NO2ID Edinburgh street stall

Every week, weather permitting, you will find our campaigning stall at 
the east end of Princes Street, opposite the Balmoral Hotel.  Do drop by 
for a chat.  New volunteers - please contact John(edinburgh at no2id.net), 
and for more group information see http://www.no2id-scotland.net/edinburgh/

        Most Saturdays 2pm - NO2ID Glasgow Street Stall

Most Saturdays there are stalls in Glasgow city centre (usually Buchanan 
Street) from about 2pm. Volunteers are always welcome, please contact 
Geraint if you would like to help: glasgow at no2id.net.

        Saturdays 10am - 12pm - NO2ID Waltham Forest leafleting

The Waltham Forest NO2ID group will be going out every Saturday to the 
Walthamstow Town Square to leaflet from 10:00am -- 12:00 pm. Contact 
waltham.forest at no2id.net for more details

        6th, 7th  and 8th July: Taking Liberties at Glasgow Film Theatre
        (with discussion on 7th)

Following the 2:30pm showing on Saturday 7th July, there will be a panel 
discussion including: Nicky Moss, the film's producer; Aamer Anwar, a 
prominent human rights lawyer; Naomi McAuliffe, Amnesty International; 
Osama Saeed, Muslim Association of Britain; and Geraint Bevan, NO2ID.

        7th July - Tonbridge/Tunbridge Wells NO2ID stall

Saturday, 7th July11am - 1pm  in Tunbridge Wells at the pedestrian 
precinct, between Boots & The Body Shop,  outside The Royal Victoria 
Precinct. Just an hour or two volunteer effort makes a lot of difference 
& there's plenty of company. Please email if you'd like to help 
(tunbridge.wells at no2id.net <mailto:tunbridge.wells at no2id.net>) and drop 
by anyway if you can't.

        7th July - Southwark NO2ID at Southwark Park - Tour de France

Saturday, 7th July 12 Noom to 10pm in Southwark Park. Confirmation has 
just been received that NO2ID has been allotted a stall at this well 
publicised event.  A condition of being accepted as a stall holder, is 
that the stall is continuously manned between noon and 10pm.  We want to 
ensure that we take the opportunity this event offers to collect as many 
signatures as possible for the NO2ID petition. Could anyone with an hour 
or two to spare on July 7th please contact Judith Hitchin at 
southwark at no2id.net advising her of the hours they could be available to 
assist on the stall.

        10th & 24th July - Glasgow NO2ID Meeting

Tuesday, 10th & 24th July, usual place, usual time: 8pm at Mono (Map: 
http://www.glasgow-no2id.org.uk/meeting.html) our fortnightly meeting, 
all welcome!

        14th July - Manchester NO2ID Flyering

Saturday, 14th July, 1pm - 3pm at St. Anne's Square. We'll be running a 
Saturday afternoon stall in St. Anne's Square. The main objectives of 
the afternoon will be to raise awareness among the public, engage people 
in discussion about the NIR, and collect petitions for the NO2ID 
petition to keep people in touch with the campaign. We'll meet in the 
square itself at 1pm to set up shop; feel free to join us to lend a hand 
or just chat. You don't need any experience or equipment, just a bit of 
time to spare and a friendly smile!

        15th July - RISE Festival - NO2ID volunteers needed

Sunday, 15th July 12pm-8.30pm at Finsbury Park. Volunteers needed for 
the RISE festival an all day anti-racism music event...and its free.  If 
you are available that day and you fancy handing leaflets out to some 
fab music then please contact Caroline - highbury at no2id.net.  The food 
is great too!

        18th July - Manchester NO2ID Meeting

Wednesday, 18th July, 7.30pm - 9pm in the upstairs function room of the 
Town Hall Tavern, Tib Lane, Manchester. Sadly, this venue is not 
wheelchair-accessible, please contact us if you have accessibility 
needs. We will be discussing film nights, websites and other things of 
interest. Feel free to join us! (The Town Hall Tavern serves 
reasonably-priced, good quality food until 8pm so you don't need to pop 
home for tea - you can even order your meal brought up to the function 
room.)

        24th July - Leicester NO2ID meeting (Normally last Thursday of
        Every Month)

Tuesday, 24th July in the Phoenix Theatre's bar after their showing of 
"Taking Liberties". After July Leicester NO2ID will be holding meetings 
on the last Thursday of every month at 7.35pm at The Blues pub on Severn 
Rd in Oadby.

        26th July - Glasgow NO2ID, music at Barfly

Thursday, 26th July: "NO2ID presents ...", music at Barfly, 260 Clyde 
Street, Glasgow. For more details see 
http://www.barflyclub.com/glasgow/whatson/event/11431.aspx

        28th July - Manchester NO2ID at Taking Liberties Premiere

Thursday, 28th July. We will be flyering and taking petition signatures 
at the Cornerhouse Cinema, Oxford Road at the Manchester premiere of the 
new film "Taking Liberties".
------------------------------------------------------------------------

      What just happened?

        The fight against ID cards gets musical

A new myspace group, NO2ID Music (http://myspace.com/no2idmusic) has 
been set up to bring together musicians, fans and campaigners who want 
to support NO2ID. If you are interested in performing, please e-mail Jaq 
at no2idmusic at talktalk.net

        Hackney NO2ID salutes Clarence Wilcock

Last week Hackney NO2ID celebrated Clarence Willcock Day with an evening 
of poetry and hip hop at the Hackney Empire. The event, which was a 
great success, was staged to remind people how the resistance of the 
individual can overcome the oppression of the state. Horizontal Life 
from Oxford headlined and other talented artists gave their time for 
free, some travelling from Lewisham and Birmingham to support the 
cause.  Martin Twomey of the Hackney NO2ID said: "We believe the event 
brought more people an awareness on the issues and the feedback was 
enthusiastic." Hackney also has a new coordinator with Steve Brownjohn 
taking over from Martin Twomey and the monthly meeting are set to go 
forward with our next one on Tuesday 3rd at the Pembury Tavern on 
Amhurst Rd E8 at 7:30 everyone living locally on the newsletter list in 
invited and people are always needed to with ideas and a bit of time to 
help with the campaign.

        "Taking Liberties" takes effect in Edinburgh

At their meeting on 25 June, Edinburgh NO2ID group members were told 
that a local band leader was so outraged after seeing "Taking Liberties" 
that he had contacted the coordinator for NO2ID leaflets to give out at 
his next gig.  The weekly stall on Princes Street continues to attract 
attention and this year will carry on during the Festival. Membership is 
growing steadily and members are encouraging the formation of a new 
group in Stirling.  Meanwhile the video of the group's demonstration on 
ID-Day has appeared on YouTube at 
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQMtrq8BQ8w).

        Manchester NO2ID at the Beech Road Festival

On Sunday(1st July) Manchester NO2ID enjoyed a great day out at the 
Beech Road Festival in Chorlton, Manchester. The group ran a stall at 
the community event and gathered a record number of signatures for 
NO2ID's petition opposing the National Identity Register and the 
database state. Manchester co-ordinator Dave Page said: "The National 
Identity Register will affect us all at the heart of our communities, so 
it's important for us to have a presence at events like this. The 
overwhelmingly positive reception we had shows the level of opposition 
to a database state at the grass roots level."

        Kensington & Chelsea NO2ID at Earls Court street fair

On Sunday(1st July) Kensington & Chelsea NO2ID held a stall at the Earls 
Court street fair. The group received a lot of interest and collected a 
number of signatures for the petition. Group co-ordinator Jill Manasseh 
said: "We also received support from our MP, and a future Conservative 
candidate for a Glasgow constituency and good will from various people 
including our Mayor. However there were a number of IHNTHIHNTFs(If I 
Have Nothing To Hide I Have Nothing To Fear) together with some people 
from other countries who were used to the concept."

        Committee hears further evidence on the surveillance society

Last Tuesday(26th June) the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee held 
an evidence session as part of it's 'A Surveillance Society?' inquiry. 
Dr Chris Pounder, editor of 'Data Protection & Privacy Practice', spoke 
about the imbalance of trust with relation to new data sharing powers 
proposed by the government. Dr Pounder said: "The public has to trust 
that the data sharing is limited in accordance with the rules, the 
public have to trust that staff who do the data sharing are properly 
trained and follow the rules, the public have to trust that the 
procedures for authorising the data sharing are properly maintained and 
the public have to trust that Parliament does not enact legislation that 
provides for function creep. All this trusting is in one direction."
The session can be watched at 
http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Player/?Meeting=7622

        The Big Issue on-line ID card poll shows emphatic opposition

The Big Issue are running an on-line poll asking: "Would ID cards for 
all help prevent terrorism?" At the time of going to press 100% of 
visitors to the Big Issue website have voted "No". The latest issue of 
Big Issue Scotland also features an article about the protest held at 
the the Glasgow ID interrogation centre by the local NO2ID group under 
the headline: "Glasgow councillors armed with bolt cutters joined a 
protest against ID cards at the weekend". The on-line poll is at 
www.bigissuescotland.com/get-involved/big-ask.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------

      "ID" in the news

        Bio info to enforce club smoking ban - Morning Advertiser 5/7/07

Fingerprint-based technology is being offered to clubs and pubs to help 
them keep track of people going out for a cigarette. People will be 
scanned with biometric technology when they enter the club and will be 
rescanned when they return.
http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news_detail.aspx?articleid=46628

        Stand by for the Orwellian metaphors about ID cards - The
        Guardian 5/7/07

Over the next few months, opponents of identity cards will be deploying 
a full set of Orwellian metaphors to try to persuade the new prime 
minister and home secretary to have second thoughts about this 
apparently Big Brother scheme.
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,2118161,00.html

        Brown and Cameron clash over ID - BBC News on-line 4/7/07

Mr Brown is taking part in PMQs for the first time
Gordon Brown and David Cameron have clashed over plans to introduce 
identity cards in their first prime minister's questions encounter.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6267656.stm

        Schools Biometric Company Linked To Gitmo - RINF Alternative
        News 1/7/07

VeriCool, one of the companies responsible for fingerprinting thousands 
of British school children, has been linked to inhumane detention 
centres, Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib.
http://rinf.com/alt-news/contributions/mick-meaney/school-biometrics-company-linked-to-gitmo/639/

        BMA votes for non co-operation on central records - E-Health
        Insider 29/6/07

Doctors have voted for a public inquiry into NHS Connecting for Health 
(CfH) and have called on the BMA to advise doctors not to co-operate 
with the centralised storage of medical records. The National Programme 
for IT was the subject of strong criticism at the association's annual 
representative meeting (ARM) this week where doctors claimed the NHS IT 
project was doomed to failure unless a grip was taken on the project and 
that patient information held on the NHS Care Records Service (NCRS) was 
not secure and confidential.
http://www.e-health-insider.com/news/item.cfm?ID=2827

        US Senate reins in ID card act - CNet News.com 28/6/07

The US Senate took a preliminary step on Wednesday towards reining in 
the controversial Real ID Act, which is scheduled to become America's 
first federal identification card in a few years.
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/itmanagement/0,1000000308,39287772,00.htm

        ID scans to secure UK borders by 2008 - Contractor UK 28/6/07

Hi-tech scanners that read biometric passports will be installed in all 
major British airports by the end of the year, in line with government 
plans.
http://www.contractoruk.com/news/003320.html

        The Blair IT projects - ZDNet UK 27/6/07

To mark the end of the Blair era, ZDNet.co.uk proudly presents 10 of our 
favourite tech-related government gaffes. Some might make you laugh, 
others might make you cry --- but all hold lessons for anyone involved 
in IT.
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/itmanagement/0,1000000308,39287739,00.htm

(Please send me any items of interest you encounter - 
Editor(newsletter at no2id.net) )
------------------------------------------------------------------------
We are sending you this because you have indicated you want to receive 
news about the NO2ID campaign.

You can change how you receive our newsletter, or cancel it, by using 
the 'Unsubscribe or edit options' form at the bottom of this page:

http://www.no2id.net/mailman/listinfo/no2id-supporters

If you have any problems, please send an e-mail to listmaster at no2id.net
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Publication details: © NO2ID 2007 - This document may be freely 
redistributed in one-to-one communications or physical copies as long as 
it is reproduced in its entirety including this notice. It may not be 
mass-mailed without the prior permission of NO2ID.

NO2ID, Box 412, 19-21 Crawford Street, LONDON W1H 1PJ

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.no2id.net/pipermail/no2id-supporters/attachments/20070705/38463256/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: no2id-logo-stnd.JPG
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 8757 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.no2id.net/pipermail/no2id-supporters/attachments/20070705/38463256/attachment.jpeg>