Big Scrotum wins the day
MPs yesterday 'debated' (ie they blew hot air then did what their whips told them) the introduction of identity cards. Of course, the NuLabor regime bulldozed the measure through, and it's a nailed-on cert that we'll have to carry the things in the not too distant future. (It's also a nailed-on cert that the implementation will be a cock-up of staggering proportions, and will open up a whole new and lucrative market for criminal enterprise, but that's an acceptable price to pay for complete surveillance over Joe and Jane Public.) Two choice quotes jumped out at me:
"Home Secretary Charles Clarke told MPs ID cards would help counter, not create, a "big brother society". MPs narrowly back ID plan, BBC News online, 29/6/05
Which is positively Orwellian. I next expect Big Scrotum to say that Freedom is Slavery, War is Peace, and Ignorance is Strength (see Hamster blog entry from 2003)
"The creation of this detailed data trail of individuals' activities is particularly worrying and cannot be viewed in isolation of other initiatives which serve to build a detailed picture of people's lives, such as CCTV surveillance (with automatic facial recognition), use of automatic number plate recognition recording vehicle movements for law enforcement and congestion charging, and the proposals to introduce satellite tracking of vehicles for road use charging." Richard Thomas, quoted in ID cards 'will reveal details of daily life', Guardian, 28/6/05
Who's Richard Thomas? Only the government's Information Commissioner, "appointed by the government to report to parliament on privacy issues" - no dyed-in-the-wool libertarian he, no 'friend of terrorism', but rather the State's own spokesperson on information. Not that it'll make a slight bit of difference to Big Scrotum and the Dear Leader...
"Home Secretary Charles Clarke told MPs ID cards would help counter, not create, a "big brother society". MPs narrowly back ID plan, BBC News online, 29/6/05
Which is positively Orwellian. I next expect Big Scrotum to say that Freedom is Slavery, War is Peace, and Ignorance is Strength (see Hamster blog entry from 2003)
"The creation of this detailed data trail of individuals' activities is particularly worrying and cannot be viewed in isolation of other initiatives which serve to build a detailed picture of people's lives, such as CCTV surveillance (with automatic facial recognition), use of automatic number plate recognition recording vehicle movements for law enforcement and congestion charging, and the proposals to introduce satellite tracking of vehicles for road use charging." Richard Thomas, quoted in ID cards 'will reveal details of daily life', Guardian, 28/6/05
Who's Richard Thomas? Only the government's Information Commissioner, "appointed by the government to report to parliament on privacy issues" - no dyed-in-the-wool libertarian he, no 'friend of terrorism', but rather the State's own spokesperson on information. Not that it'll make a slight bit of difference to Big Scrotum and the Dear Leader...
posted by Fred at 5:10 PM
1 Comments:
I see another article for your site looming, having watched the ten o' clock news: releasing the figures on illegal immigrants Blair claimed so recently were unobtainable...it is SO obvious a ploy to soften up public opinion and win over the sceptics. Does he REALLY hold us all in such disdain? (Yes, that was a purely rhetorical question).
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