A report to be published next month by Human Rights Watch is expected to allege that British agents colluded with their Pakistani counterparts in the torture of suspects.
According to the Guardian, at least 10 Britons are identified who have been allegedly tortured in Pakistan and subsequently questioned by UK intelligence officials. It warns that more British cases may surface and that the issue of Pakistani terrorism suspects interrogated by British agents is likely to “run much deeper”.
The article suggests this news will further embarrass the Foreign Secretary David Miliband. True, but it’s likely to prove more of a problem for Gordon Brown. It will be very interesting to hear his response when this issue is inevitably raised at PMQ’s.
Politics.co.uk reports on the 50th anniversary of ID cards being abolished in Britain. It’s worth a read, but if you don’t have time, check out the summary:
What does the story of Britain’s first relationship with ID cards tell us? There are two important lessons. Firstly, the view that police will begin to routinely use powers given to them for very specific purposes for areas we hadn’t intended is substantially vindicated by the historical data.
Secondly, there appears to be something uniquely unnatural about the combination of identity cards and Great Britain. The continent never took such great offence at the imposition of identity cards, nor mandatory local authority registration. Even today, Europeans visiting the UK struggle to understand the depth of passion aroused by the mere idea. But in Britain, where the concept of privacy so pervasive and innate as a national characteristic, the cards entail something else entirely. If ID cards are finally introduced, the government will find considerable opposition, even rebellion. The question is, will it make any difference?
Persistence pays off! After battling for four years against a Freedom of Information request, ministers have been ordered to publish two reviews into the ID card scheme.
The Information Tribunal has ordered the reviews to be published within 28 days.
The independent “gateway” reviews from 2003 and 2004 will give an insight into the creation of the draft Identity Cards bill.
Although not expected to reveal anything controversial, the success in getting the reviews published is a real victory for the public over the Government. Freedom of Information should be just that.
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said: “The government is increasingly realising that its ID card scheme is a laminated poll tax with all the same toxic ability to make it unpopular.
“Ministers would win more plaudits if they did not drag their feet on their legal obligations.”
In a late addition to the Convention on Modern Liberty, a satellite event has been scheduled in Birmingham.
The event to be held on Saturday 28 February at Aston University will feature a live link-up with the main event in London, followed by a workshop on “Preventing Violent Extremism? State surveillance and community organisation”.
In addition to Birmingham, satellite events are being held in Belfast, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Glasgow and Manchester, coinciding with the main event in London.
Is it me or is the civil liberties campaign building some real momentum?
Hot on the heels of the Scottish parliament and the body representing pilots, comes criticism from none other than Dame Stella Rimington, the former head of MI5. We now have the former figurehead of the security services telling the Government they have gone too far. BUT ARE THEY LISTENING?
Dame Stella had the following to say to Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia:
“Since I have retired I feel more at liberty to be against certain decisions of the Government, especially the attempt to pass laws which interfere with people’s privacy.
“It would be better that the Government recognised that there are risks, rather than frightening people in order to be able to pass laws which restrict civil liberties, precisely one of the objects of terrorism: that we live in fear and under a police state.”
Hot on the heels of the Scottish Government’s anti-ID statement comes the news that the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) has said its pilots will refuse to take part in the proposed ID card trial for airport workers.
Pilots who refuse to register for an ID card would not be granted airline passes enabling them to fly, resulting in potentially thousands of cancelled flights.
The UK Government had planned to run a trial for all airport workers at Manchester and London City airports starting this autumn, but that now appears in jeopardy.
BALPA said in its submission: “It is clear that the Government’s staged introduction of biometric identity cards first to overseas students, then to migrant workers and then for aviation workers, represents a way of picking off what are seen as easy targets.”
Long Live Devolution!
The Scottish Government has written to Westminster expressing their continued opposition to the national identity scheme. In a move that’s sure to add weight to the argument from the anti-ID brigade, Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing MSP said the scheme posed an “unacceptable threat to citizen’s civil liberties and privacy”. He also criticised the use of vast sums of money on the scheme during a recession.
Civil liberties campaign group NO2ID added another to their growing number of local groups this weekend with the launch of NO2ID Winchester.
There’s an interesting post over at the Expat Focus blog on the experience of British people living in countries where carrying ID is mandatory.
Even in EU countries some police officers view it as suspicious and then you have two things going against you - firstly you’re a foreigner and secondly a foreigner without identity! The position sometimes can even be absurd. In some countries for example, local citizens must by law carry an identity card at all times although paradoxically there is no such requirement for foreigners - much to the chagrin of the locals who perhaps understandably can’t quite see the logic!
What caught my eye was this “essence of Britishness”:
It’s also best to avoid the response I once heard from a Briton who’d been stopped by a policeman: “I don’t need an identity card, I’m British and I already know who I am”. Funny and true, perhaps, but sadly the policeman didn’t appreciate the humour!
Now many leading politicians including Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg have promised to defy law and refuse to sign up for and carry an ID card. It makes you wonder how many British people will have a response similar to the above quote. If that number is high enough it will make a mockery of the entire scheme. Then what exactly will the authorities do?
Leading transsexual activists have criticised the government’s plans for identity cards.
Gender Spectrum UK has launched an online petition aimed at ensuring the safety of people “who present themselves in a manner which is not the same as the gender to which they were assigned at birth.”
Current proposals will allow those undergoing treatment to change their gender to buy TWO cards, until they obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). One will show male, one will show female. One will be valid for travel through Europe, one won’t.
A Gender Spectrum UK spokesperson said:
“Both will be in the person’s legal name, but one will identify the person as male, the other as female. The one in the birth gender will be valid for travel throughout Europe, the other will not. Once a full GRC has been issued, a single ID card will be issued in the acquired gender.
“The guidelines also state that the database will also keep details of your birth gender, even after a GRC has been issued.
“We believe that a person carrying two ID cards, each bearing details that conflict with the other, will be become vulnerable and at risk from harm from foreign security services or members of the public, particularly in volatile countries and/or situations. We believe that this puts many people’s lives at risk. We also believe that this puts many people who do not have a GRC in a vulnerable position.”
