ID cards: mistaken identity

Less a climbdown, more of a stumble. A glance at some of the papers yesterday [1st July 2009] might have led you to believe that something truly momentous had happened: Alan Johnson, the shiny new home secretary and sometime last-resort leadership hope of desperate Labour MPs, had finally rid the government of its self-imposed policy millstone and binned the ID card scheme.
If only. What Mr Johnson did instead was something much more modest, but which nevertheless erodes yet further the government's case for the identity database. In the face of tremendous trade-union opposition, this former full-time union official called off plans to trial the compulsory ID card among workers at two airports. It is as little and as significant as that. Little, because only 30,000 airport staff were affected by the announcement. Significant, because one of the ragbag of reasons for the introduction of the wretched ID register was that it would enhance airport security. This is not just a pilot scheme that has been scrapped; yet another big hole has been knocked in the justification for the entire project. What was originally dreamed up as a compulsory item to help combat terrorism and benefit fraud is now being sold as an entirely voluntary accessory to be toted by thirsty teens who want to prove to barmen that they can legally buy a pint.
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If you want a passport then you will be added to the ID Card database - whether you 'volunteer' to carry a physical ID Card or not. It has never been about the card itself.
The government's skewed logic is that nobody is required by the state to apply for a passport, therefore forcing people who apply for a voluntary document to go onto the ID database is not compulsion, it's just complying with regulations required to obtain the voluntary document. Such semantic gymnastics can be found in George Orwell's fictional language Newspeak.
Only when this database is dropped will we be free from the spectre of the national identity register.

Climbdown on compulsory ID cards?

Home Secretary Alan Johnson has dropped plans to make ID cards compulsory for pilots and airside workers at Manchester and London City airports.
The cards were due to be trialled there - sparking trade union anger.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling said that the reverse in policy was "an absurd fudge" and "symbolic of a government in chaos".
But Mr Johnson said the ID card scheme was still very much alive - despite Tory and Lib Dem calls to scrap it.
He said the national roll-out of a voluntary scheme was being speeded-up - with London to get them a year early in 2010 and over-75s to get free cards.
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Once more government spin has triumphed and much of the media has got it wrong. The new Home Secretary Alan Johnson has not made any significant changes to the scheme. Compulsion by stealth is still the order of the day, just as it always was. Someone joining the ID scheme 'voluntarily' will still be placing control of their identity in the hands of the IPS for life.
The Home Office line remains the same. No compulsion (as the Home Office defines it) was going to be applied until almost everyone had 'volunteered' and then it was only a matter of rounding up a minority of resisters and marginalised people.
The Home Office's idea of "voluntary" is not the same as yours and mine.
Since 2004 the scheme was (and it still is) to proceed by "designating" one-by-one under the Identity Cards Act 2006 other documents issued by official bodies -- in the first place passports.
Once a document has been designated, you won't be able to apply for one without also applying to be entered, for life, on the national identity register. If you don't agree to be registered it won't be that you are refused (say) a passport; you'd have voluntarily decided not to apply.
There's no compulsion to have a passport. It is useful for travelling. But you aren't compelled to travel.
Or (say) to drive. Or to work as a security guard. Or with children. Or in healthcare. To get parole from prison. To practice as a lawyer. ...
Any official licence, registration certificate or permit can be designated, and -- in the home office's skewed logic -- handing control of your identity to the Home Office's Identity and Passport Service will still be entirely voluntary.
That they were due for a confrontation with the airside worker's unions over designating new passes at Manchester and City Airports is an illustration of just how voluntary "voluntary" really is. But the fact they have now ducked that fight for political convenience suggests saying no does work - if you say it loudly enough.

EU Stockholm programme and the Database State

According to Statewatch, "The 'Stockholm Programme', the next 5-year plan for Justice and Home Affairs, is expected to be adopted in autumn 2009".
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, points out that the Stockholm programme contains: "An 'information system architecture' to bring about the sharing of all data across the EU. The use of 'security technologies' to harness the 'digital tsunami' to gather through mass surveillance personal data on peoples' everyday activities through public-private partnerships." Bunyan goes on to warn that: "What is new is the clear aim of creating the surveillance society and the database state".
The European Civil Liberties Network (ECLN) has published a statement calling on civil society groups and individuals to voice their opinions on the programme.
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Arrested for asking a policeman for his badge number

The Guardian has obtained police footage of Emily Apple and Val Swain being arrested by surveillance officers after asking for their badge numbers at the Kingsnorth climate camp last year. The two women speak to Paul Lewis about their arrest, 4-day imprisonment and official complaint. All charges were dropped.
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Truely shocking. Nothing else I can say really.

First trial without jury approved

The Court of Appeal has ruled that a criminal trial can take place at Crown Court without a jury for the first time in England and Wales.
The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, made legal history by agreeing to allow the trial to be heard by a judge alone.
It is the first time the power has been used since it came into force in 2007.
The case concerns four men accused of an armed robbery at Heathrow Airport in 2004. The judge said jury "tampering" was a "very significant" danger.
Lord Judge told the court the cost of the measures needed to protect jurors from potential influence, such as the services of police officers, was too high and that such measures may not properly insulate them.
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Terror watchdog in search warning

The UK's terror law watchdog says people are being stopped and searched to racially balance official figures.
In his annual report, Lord Carlile QC warned of "poor or unnecessary" use of the special Section 44 powers.
He said there was ample anecdotal evidence of officers searching people not connected to terrorism.
Lord Carlile also warned there was little or no evidence that blanket use of Section 44 searches had the potential to prevent a terror attack.
Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 allows police to stop and search someone without suspicion that an offence has occurred.
The powers can only be used in specific areas on the orders of a police chief, with later approval by the home secretary.
Supporters say such powers can make it harder for extremists to carry out reconnaissance in public areas, such as near important tourist attractions.
The Metropolitan Police used them 170,000 times during 2008, according to figures previously obtained by BBC London.
But in the strongest criticisms Lord Carlile has ever made of the use of the powers, the peer said that none of the stops in London or elsewhere had led to a conviction.
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Database of all children launched

A controversial database which holds the details of every child in England has become available to childcare professionals for the first time.
ContactPoint, a response to Lord Laming's report following the death of Victoria Climbie, is beginning its national roll-out in the north west.
But the system, costing £224m, has been delayed twice amid data security fears.
The government says it will enable more co-ordinated services for children and ensure none slips through the net.
It will hold the details of 11 million children and young people aged up to 18 years.
The delays were prompted by concerns over access to the database. In 2007, a report into the project by auditors Deloitte and Touche said it could never be totally secure.
Last summer ministers delayed the database, admitting there were some "issues" identified in testing.
It says 390,000 people will have access to the database, but will have gone through stringent security training.
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