ID Cards

Lord Mayor,

It was said in 1995:

"Instead of wasting hundreds of millions of pounds on compulsory ID cards as the Tory Right demand, let that money provide thousands of extra police officers on the beat in our local communities."

These were Tony Blair's words - rejecting the whole notion of ID cards and expressing a sentiment I couldn't agree with more.

Since then, the Government's ID cards plans have been formulated not on the basis of rational thinking, cost efficiency and competency of such a scheme, but in the wake of atrocities such as 9/11, the Madrid and London bombings.

The Government has forced through legislation for ID cards, despite consistent rejection from the Liberal Democrats in Parliament, some opposition from the Conservatives, and the fact that public approval for the plans stands at just 43%.

The Government has enforced compulsory issuing of ID cards for foreign nationals this year, and for airport workers next year. In 2010 students will have pressure put on them to get ID cards when opening bank accounts - which of course every student needs to be paid their student loan.

From 2011/12 everyone over the age of 16 applying for a passport will have their details - including fingerprints and facial scans - added to a National Identity register, and "significant volumes" of ID cards will be issued - at the expense of the individual - when they need a new passport.

Before we know it, ID cards will be made compulsory for everyone.

The introduction of identity cards by the Government can be described simply in three words:

§ Expensive

§ Intrusive

§ Ineffective

The LSE estimates that the Government's ID cards plans could cost £18bn. ID cards will cost each taxpayer £200, and each individual a further £90 to obtain an ID card.

In the current financial context of the credit crunch, rising food and fuel prices, and the declining housing market, York residents could do without another "tax" from a Government, supposedly 'famed' for its successful record on the economy. They resent Government for wasting their money on schemes such as identity cards which are expensive and irrelevant.

The Government's plans are for ID cards to be issuing with passports. If ID cards are made compulsory - something which this Government intends - any person wishing to travel abroad - that is, the vast majority of the British public, will not be able to do so if they do not wish to have an identity card. This is a sly interference in British citizen's rights and freedoms.

The very notion of making ID cards compulsory represents a real shift from the cornerstone of British democracy - presumption of innocence - to a presumption of guilty until proven innocent. But perhaps we are to expect this now, being the most watched society in the world thanks to CCTV, and being governed by a Party wanting to detain suspected terrorists for 42 days without trial.

The "big brother", "surveillance society" principles behind ID cards will change British life. The relationship between the state and the individual will be altered, with greater centralization of power than ever before, coupled with less privacy and fewer civil liberties for British citizens.

ID cards are fundamentally intrusive: when an individual's details are stored on a biometrics database, a finger print check will be all that's needed to check their identity.

ID cards will also undoubtedly lead to discrimation. The Government wants the police to use the cards to detect more illegal immigrants and suspected terrorists, so they are likely to target black and Asian people.

So, ID cards will be a burden on York residents' finances and an interference in their rights and liberties, BUT, according to the Government, ID cards will prevent terrorism, cut crime, halt identity fraud, and stop illegal working.

The truth is, ID cards won't do any of these things.

Stella Rimington, the former head of M15 has publicly stated her view on the introduction of ID cards by stating "I don't think that anybody in the intelligence services would be pushing for the introduction of ID cards."

ID cards will not prevent terrorism; knowing someone's identity does not necessarily help you to predict how they are going to behave. The 9/11 and Madrid terrorists carried valid ID documents.

ID cards will not prevent fraud, in fact they will encourage fraud. If ID cards are taken as a strong guarantee of identity, they could become a target for forgery as criminals/terrorists seek to disguise their true identity.

ID cards will not prevent illegal working - industries which already employ high numbers of illegal labourers are already required to check ID documents, and they won't check ID cards. The Government should instead be inspecting these industries. ID cards will also not prevent illegal immigration, as people will still enter Britain with valid foreign documents.

ID cards will not prevent crime; carrying a plastic card does not prevent someone mugging you and it does not increase intelligence. What is needed to cut crime is thousands more police on our streets, which could be paid for with the billions of pounds the Government is spending on ID cards.

ID cards are a complete let down for residents of York and citizens throughout Britain. ID Cards will not prevent terrorism, they will not cut crime, they will not halt identity fraud, and they will not stop illegal working, but they will be paid for by the British people, and they will weaken their rights and civil liberties.

Council, I urge you to support this motion for the sake of people living in York and across Britain.