[no2id-supporters] NO2ID Newsletter No.91

Thu Feb 14 17:20:49 GMT 2008

    NO2ID
    NO2ID Supporters' Newsletter No. 91 - 14th February 2008

*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)

      SET YOUR VIDEO - NEW BBC DRAMA ON THE DANGERS OF THE DATABASE STATE

This Sunday, 17th February, at 9pm BBC One begins a new five-part 
thriller based in the database state. 'The Last Enemy', starring Robert 
Carlyle and Benedict Cumberbatch, is set in the near future where ID 
cards and government control through centralised databases is a reality.

The series is a great opportunity to open discussion and debate about 
the future we are hurtling towards. We encourage you to get your 
friends, family and colleagues to watch it. Talk about it with them. 
Point out how close the database state really is. As the programme's 
writer Peter Berry says in this week's Radio Times, "everything that 
happens in episode one is absolutely conceivable now".

The dystopian vision portrayed in 'The Last Enemy' may be enough to 
convince people you know that they should do something to stop it.

If you have already made the NO2ID Pledge*, or even if you haven't yet, 
you should encourage them to make it too. Get them to join NO2ID - 
http://www.no2id.net/getInvolved/join.php - or get involved in a local 
group.

This week's media scramble on the Unique Learner Number and lifelong 
retention of children's records shows that all too often the mainstream 
wakes up too late. We need to keep campaigning to ensure that 'The Last
Enemy' remains fiction not fact.

--

* The NO2ID Pledge - http://www.no2id.net/pledge/ - is an entirely 
lawful public declaration that you personally will be taking a stand 
against ID cards and the database state.

      What's next?

        Local groups news

We now have local groups in 44 of the 69 proposed locations for 
interrogation centres - of which just 3 have yet to open. Parliamentary 
answers indicate that the most active centres are: Belfast, Birmingham, 
Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Newport, 
Peterborough and Sheffield.

As of the end of January 2008, 22 of the centres had performed fewer 
than 10 interrogations. There may still be time to apply for your first 
adult passport without being called in for an official grilling - but, 
if you are, your details still won't be going onto the National Identity 
Register. It isn't built yet.

For information on your nearest interrogation centre, see 
www.no2id.net/getInvolved/idCentres.php. If you can help set up a local 
group in one of the remaining locations, or anywhere else in the UK, 
please contact Matty on local.groups at no2id.net

        _Birmingham_

*25th February - NO2ID Central Birmingham Inaugural meeting*
Monday, 25th February 7:30pm at the Midlands Art Centre café, Cannon 
Hill Park, Birmingham, B12 9QH. The inaugural meeting of the Central 
Birmingham group. All are welcome

        _Cambridge_

*16th February - NO2ID Cambridge Stall*
Saturday, 16th February at 10am in the usual spot outside Cambridge 
Guildhall. Location Map: http://tinyurl.com/eo42r. As ever, volunteers 
to help very welcome - please email cambridge at no2id.net, or text/call 
Andrew on 07710 469624 if you can make it.

*5th March - Cambridge NO2ID pub meeting (1st Wednesday of each month)*
Wednesday, 5th March 7.30pm at the Salisbury Arms, 76 Tenison Rd, 
Cambridge CB1 2DW. Map: (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=cb1+2dw). For 
more details contact cambridge at no2id.net, or text/call Andrew on 07710 
469624.

        _Canterbury_

We've been featured on the Your Canterbury website: 
http://www.yourcanterbury.co.uk/kent-news/Anti-ID-card-group-sets-up-stall-in-city-centre-newsinkent9777.aspx

*16th February - Cantebury NO2ID Street Stall*
Saturday, 16th February 10am-4pm, Cantebury High Street. Our second High 
St stall will be manned by a small crew of Jen, James, Tom, Simon, Ian 
and myself but if any of you are able to turn up and stick around I'm 
sure these guys would all appreciate a bit more of a break! Hope to see 
you this weekend!

*5th March - Canterbury NO2ID Meeting (1st Wednesday of each month)*
Wednesday, 5th March 7pm at Coffee and Corks, Palace Street, Canterbury. 
Email canterbury at no2id.net for more info.

        _Dorking_

Now an active group - we are planning local media events, a High St 
stall and we will be approaching the Local Council to get them to pass 
anti-ID legislation. 

*4th March - Dorking NO2ID Meeting*
Tuesday, 4th March 7.30pm.  New permanent venue tba.  More local members 
needed.

        _Dover_

*28th February - Dover NO2ID AGM/Meeting*
Thursday, 28th February 7.45pm for an 8pm start at The Red Lion Pub, 
Charlton Green, Dover, Kent. Actually the term "AGM" is a bit formal; 
there will be some formalities to complete, but it will be mostly a 
chance for members and supporters to gather and discuss what has 
happened over the last year, and plan the next year. All members and 
supporters from Dover, Deal, Folkestone, Hythe and surrounding areas 
welcome.

        _Edinburgh_

*Meeting with Green MSP Patrick Harvie*
The first in a series of meetings, in which MSPs of all parties are 
being invited along as guest speakers, was held on 30th January. In the 
past, Green MSP Patrick Harvie has been a great champion for NO2ID 
issues both within the Scottish Parliament and at our demos. On this 
occasion he was very pleased to take the opportunity to publicly sign 
the NO2ID Pledge. At the end of his very interesting talk he volunteered 
to arrange a briefing of MSPs at the Parliament, which would allow NO2ID 
representatives to explain the long term significance of the 
controversial Scottish National Entitlement Card.

*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/

        _Glasgow_

*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

        _Kensington & Chelsea_

*NO2ID pledge meeting available online*
A public meeting about the NO2ID pledge was held on 7th February at 
7.30pm at Westbourne Grove Church. The speakers were the Libertarian Dr 
Sean Gabb and Guy Herbert, General Secretary of NO2ID. The meeting was 
chaired by George Edwards. A full webcast of the proceedings has been 
made and can be viewed at 
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8242866171486169757. Flyers 
were distributed during the week at Notting Hill Underground station, 
Queensway and Bayswater Underground stations and in pubs and cafes in 
the vicinity of the meeting. Members will work on a showing of Taking 
Liberties as their next event.

        _Manchester_

*8th March - Manchester NO2ID Street Stall*
Saturday, 8th March 2pm-4pm in St. Anne's Square we'll be running a 
stall to raise awareness among the public and engage people in 
discussion about the National Identity Register. We'll meet in the 
square itself at 2pm to set up shop; feel free to join us to lend a hand 
or just chat.  Please note the new times for this event - we're starting 
and finishing an hour later than previously!

*12th March - Manchester NO2ID Meeting*
Wednesday, 12th March 7pm-9pm in the upstairs function room of the Town 
Hall Tavern, Tib Lane, Manchester. At our monthly meetings we discuss 
the state of the NO2ID campaign, what we've been up to recently and 
where we're going in future. Everyone is welcome, newcomer or not, 
curious or committed.

        _Newcastle/Gateshead_

*20th February - Taking Liberties showing*
Wednesday, 20th February 7.30pm at the Star and Shadow Cinema. The 
acclaimed film Taking Liberties, featuring NO2ID, will be shown.

        _Shrewsbury_

*18th February - Shrewsbury NO2ID meeting*
Monday, 18th February 8pm in the Armoury, Victoria Quay, Victoria 
Avenue, Welsh Bridge, Shrewsbury 
(http://www.brunningandprice.co.uk/pub6_7.html). Look for a table with 
black-and-red NO2ID flyers scattered around; we'll try to get a table at 
the fireplace/toilet end of the pub (but look at other tables too if we 
didn't get seats there).

        _Southwark_

Southwark achieved very good results at The SEOne club last Friday and 
Saturday. The Synergy Project are holding another two events and have 
invited NO2ID to both. For details of who is appearing at these events, 
please visit www.thesynergyproject.org The first event will be held on 
22nd March at the Synergy Centre, Camberwell.  The second event will be 
on 18th April at The SEOne Club. For both events we would like two more 
people to assist. If you are free and can help, please contact Judith at 
southwark at no2id.net. You do not have to be a member of the Southwark 
Group to volunteer - anyone who knows the subject and wants to talk to 
the public. NO2ID has also been invited to the following events :

*22nd February - Flame & Flesh SE17*
Friday, 22nd February 8pm - 2am we will be at Flame & Flesh, Corsica 
Studios, Units 4/5, Elephant Road, SE17 1LB. Sincere thanks to Lorraine 
Liyanage who kindly arranged for us to 'get in' to this event.  Ideally, 
I would like one person to assist me on the night, even if you can spend 
just a few hours.  If you want to volunteer, please contact me at 
southwark at no2id.net.  For details of who is appearing, please visit 
www.experimentl.co.uk.

*27th February - Respect event*
Wednesday 27th February at Blue Room in the Methodist Church Hall 
Clubland, Walworth Road. Phil Booth will be speaking. This will be an 
evening meeting. Exact times and directions still to be supplied. Please 
contact me if you would like to come along.  Another Southwark Group 
member, Margot Lindsay, kindly arranged this meeting.

If any other Southwark Group members know of meetings where NO2ID can 
take a table, please contact soutwark at no2id.net_
_

        _Swindon_

*27th February - Swindon NO2ID Meeting*
Wednesday, 27th February, 7.30pm at The George Inn, Eastcott Hill, 
Swindon. At the meeting we will be discussing the group's attendance at 
the full meeting of Swindon Borough Council on 28th February (assemble 
at Euclid Street Offices 6.30pm) to put a public question to the Council 
during public question time. Informal gathering of minds. All are very 
welcome.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

      What just happened?

        New ICM poll shows 1 in 4 strongly against ID cards

A new survey commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust shows that 
25% of those polled are deeply opposed to the introduction of a national 
identity card scheme. This is up from 17% in September last year. The 
poll also showed 50% of respondents thought ID cards were a bad idea 
whilst 47% thought they were a good idea. The poll data is at 
http://www.jrrt.org.uk/ICM%20Omnibus%20poll%20-%203%20February%202008.pdf

        Doctors have no confidence in NHS database

A poll conducted by BMA News has found that nine out of ten doctors 
surveyed have no confidence in the government's ability to safeguard 
patient data online. Recent high-profile data losses, such as the HM 
Revenue and Customs computer discs containing the details of 25 million 
child benefit claimants and security breaches during last year's online 
training recruitment fiasco for junior doctors, have left doctors 
sceptical about safety. More than eight out of ten (81 per cent) of 
respondents said they would not want their surgery data stored on the 
national NHS 'spine'.

        Bridport Town Council vote against ID cards

On 5th Februray Bridport Town Council passed a motion against the 
government's ID scheme. The council agreed not to take part in any pilot 
scheme or feasibility work in relation to the introduction ID cards and 
to only co-operate with the scheme where to do otherwise would be 
unlawful. The council also voted to support the NO2ID campaign.

        EU biometric checks?

The European Commission wants "an entry-exit system to record the dates 
of entry and exit of each third-country national admitted to the 
Schengen area using biometric identifiers (facial image and 
fingerprints)." The measure would apply to those entering the current 25 
Schengen member states and associates in Europe. The move will be up for 
priority discussion by EU justice and home affairs ministers during the 
first half of 2008, but the Commission rarely puts forward proposals of 
this kind unless it is reasonably sure that they will be adopted. It 
remains to be seen how the requirement will affect the five EU members 
that have stayed outside Schengen - including the UK and Ireland. The 
EU's justice commissioner Franco Frattini reportedly suggested that they 
could join the biometric scheme "voluntarily". He also said that EU 
citizens and other people "worthy of confidence" should be offered the 
possibility of taking part voluntarily in a "kind of fast identification 
process". In general, Frattini favours surveillance levels equalling or 
surpassing those of the USA, both at borders and on EU-internal air 
travel. All in all, the new Europe-wide surveillance would cost at least 
£485m.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

      "ID" in the news

*Less than a quarter of us think ID cards will work - Daily Mail 13/2/08*
Only 24 per cent of us are convinced that the £5.5billion ID card scheme 
will achieve its aims, a survey revealed yesterday. The poll, by the 
Government's own Identity and Passport Service, showed that there is 
widespread scepticism about the plans.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=513944&in_page_id=1770

*Every child in school numbered for life - The Times 13/2/08*
All 14-year-old children in England will have their personal details and 
exam results placed on an electronic database for life under a plan to 
be announced tomorrow. Under the terms of the scheme all children will 
keep their individual number throughout their adult lives. 
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article3359931.ece

*How believable are government claims on ID cards? - The Register 13/2/08*
British people are maintaining steady levels of disbelief over 
government claims about ID cards, according to official Home Office 
research. The survey asked people how important proposed benefits of the 
ID card would be - 74 per cent chose "disrupting the activities of 
terrorists and organised criminals", but 23 per cent of people thought 
this was "slightly believable" and 11 per cent thought it was "not at 
all believable".
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/13/id_card_research_unbelievable/

*NHS has lost thousands of smartcards - IT Pro 6/2/08*
Connecting for Health has admitted that some four thousand smartcards 
used to access NHS computer systems have gone missing. Over four 
thousand smartcards used to access NHS computer systems have gone 
missing, according to reports in a medical publication.
http://www.itpro.co.uk/news/163317/nhs-has-lost-thousands-of-smartcards.html

*UK has lessons to learn from Hong Kong on ID cards - Computer Weekly 
6/2/08*
Whether citizens like it or not, their governments are anxious to know 
everything about them. There are plenty of technologies they can harness 
to this purpose. But the trick is to find a politically and culturally 
acceptable way to apply them.
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/02/06/229296/uk-has-lessons-to-learn-from-hong-kong-on-id-cards.htm

*Britain is slithering down the road towards a police state - The 
Guardian 6/2/08*
The machine is out of control. Personal surveillance in Britain is so 
extensive that no democratic oversight is remotely plausible. Some 800 
organisations, including the police, the revenue, local and central 
government, demanded (and almost always got) 253,000 intrusions on 
citizen privacy in the last recorded year, 2006. This is way beyond that 
of any other country in the free world.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/feb/06/immigrationpolicy.politics

*Our state collects more data than the Stasi ever did. We need to fight 
back - The Guardian 31/1/08*
This has got to stop. Britain's snooper state is getting completely out 
of hand. We are sleepwalking into a surveillance society, and we must 
wake up. When the Stasi started spying on me, as I moved around East 
Germany 30 years ago, I travelled on the assumption that I was coming 
from one of the freest countries in the world to one of the least free. 
I don't think I was wrong then, but I would certainly be wrong now.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jan/31/immigrationpolicy.politics

(Please send me any items of interest you encounter - 
Editor(newsletter at no2id.net) )
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