Barcode Nation

The identity minister Meg Hillier has admitted that the government did not make its reasons for identity cards “clear enough”.
In a Westminster Hall debate, the Labour MP Mark Todd accused the government of not making a “promising start” and said the public’s trust must be won for identity cards to work.
He said: “The [...]

Following comments earlier in the week, Barcode Nation asked just who, other than Gordon Brown and Jacqui Smith, is speaking out in support of the government?
Well today, we found out, after reading Jack Straw’s comments in the Guardian.
Not only does he take a swipe at tomorrow’s Convention on Modern Liberty:
More generally, despite the claims of a [...]

David Blunkett MP, the man who introduced the idea of ID cards during the Blair years has emerged as its latest opponent. Perhaps opponent is too strong a term, as the former Home Secretary does support the idea of cards for foreign nationals. But, when speaking at Essex University this week, he is expected to [...]

One of the big hopes of civil liberties campaigners is that a change of government will bring an end to Labour’s creeping surveillance state. Of course the reality will be somewhat different, but if the politicians keep to their word, we should at least see an end to ID cards and ContactPoint.
 
But when might that [...]

Welsh Lib Dem AM Peter Black brings our attention to Cabinet Minister James Purnell who has misplaced important documents for a second time.
Rather than poke fun at the unfortunate Mr Purnell, I’d like to second what Peter Black says:
The purpose of this post is not to draw attention to Mr. Purnell’s double whammy, though he [...]

NO2ID Birmingham united their local politicians earlier this month in the fight against ID cards. They composed a letter to the local press to protest against the introduction of ID cards for foreign nationals. It was signed by 5 MP’s (2 Lib Dem, 1 Lab, 1 Ind Lab, 1 Con), 13 City Councillors (Lib Dem, [...]