Conservatives really are the barbarians at the gate 6


Alan Johnson MP writes in the Observer about Conservative party policy:

On identity cards, which they advocated at the last election, they are now in the ludicrous position of supporting the new biometric passports (which, as Gordon Brown has made clear, can be used instead of an ID card), but opposing the National Identity Register that will link the document to its owner, thus preventing identity fraud.


6 thoughts on “Conservatives really are the barbarians at the gate

  • andrew

    Three things:

    1. Changing position on ID cards isn’t a uniquely Conservative trait. Here’s how Tony Blair did it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m98HRbc0Gbw

    2. If passports can be “used instead of” ID cards, why waste huge amounts of money issuing the cards?

    3. Rather than “preventing” identity fraud (which is a relatively small problem in this country), the proposed National Identity Register and the linked National Identity Register Number (NIRN) for each individual would increase the opportunities for identity fraud, just as the Social Security Number (SSN) has in the USA. See: http://identityproject.lse.ac.uk/idfraudbriefing.pdf

    Building the proposed National Identity Register would be a long-term identity fraud disaster.

  • andrew

    Three things:

    1. Changing position on ID cards isn’t a uniquely Conservative trait. Here’s how Tony Blair did it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m98HRbc0Gbw

    2. If passports can be “used instead of” ID cards, why waste huge amounts of money issuing the cards?

    3. Rather than “preventing” identity fraud (which is a relatively small problem in this country), the proposed National Identity Register and the linked National Identity Register Number (NIRN) for each individual would increase the opportunities for identity fraud, just as the Social Security Number (SSN) has in the USA. See: http://identityproject.lse.ac.uk/idfraudbriefing.pdf

    Building the proposed National Identity Register would be a long-term identity fraud disaster.

  • martinb

    Surely the point of the biometrics is to link the document to its owner; if it doesn’t do that, what’s the point of the biometrics?

    The point of the NIR on the other hand is to link the passport to *everything else* known about the owner. Nothing to do with Identity Fraud at all.

  • martinb

    Surely the point of the biometrics is to link the document to its owner; if it doesn’t do that, what’s the point of the biometrics?

    The point of the NIR on the other hand is to link the passport to *everything else* known about the owner. Nothing to do with Identity Fraud at all.

  • nina steggar

    what would happen if the russians ever got a copy of the id register. They may already have the child benefit disks which labour lost. They are defending something which has already been lost.

  • nina steggar

    what would happen if the russians ever got a copy of the id register. They may already have the child benefit disks which labour lost. They are defending something which has already been lost.

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