Re: I just wondered ......

TD wrote on 25-1-2006 :

"Max Mulder" <maxmulder@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:mn.cb8c7d61c9a5103c.46845@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
dave wrote on 25-1-2006 :

<snip>

5) What about those types who are always losing things. At £90 a go it would get very expensive very quickly.

I have never been asked for proof of identity in my life.

In that case, why do you need an identity card?

Not everybody is like me. And everyone is equal before the law. If my neighbour has to have one I have to have one. Simple.

Look, when I enter Germany I don't have to show a passport. When I enter Britain I do. Why is that? Ultimately because the British authorities don't trust foreigners. But that would imply that they consider their own citizens to be more trustworthy than others. This cannot be true. So if you can ask people for proof of identity when they enter the country it follows that you should also be able to ask people for proof of identity within the country. As matters stand a British police officer can ask an overseas visitor for proof of identity but not a British subject, this is discrimination of citizens of other EU countries and is against European rules.

It's only 13 euros as far as I know and you get a new one. You have to fill in a form (Verlustanzeige) stating why you have no longer got it.

There are many countries where they have identity cards. Germany, Belgium, Italy as far as I know. Switzerland, and nobody in these countries seems to mind. It saves you the cost of a passport, because they can be used for travelling within the EU.

Why worry? I have nothing to hide, I always say.

"if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear" is one of those banal, inane, and trite cliches trotted out by supporters of this idiot scheme. It implicitly presumes that the authorities and their agents will act with honesty and integrity, that there will be no system failures, and that citizens don't have legitimate reasons for keeping certain things secret.

This isn't just about having an identity card. It is about the National Register and a myriad of other issues: that the identity cards scheme is a solution looking for a problem; that this will be the largest public-sector IT project in Europe, and the public-sector IT projects in the UK don't fare too well at all; that the Government has been secretive and dishonest about the costs of the scheme; that they have been dishonest about the benefits of the scheme and the reasons for its introduction; that they haven't discussed what will happen if the scheme fails individuals; and so on.

I am not aware of any country in the world, let alone Europe, using a system similar to the UK proposal.

I don't know enough of the details to answer that one. Personally I hate crime and I think it must be fought by whatever means necessary.


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Moving to Europe
    ... > possibly other countries in Europe like Germany and/or France for a ... and some restrictions apply to citizens from the "new" ... EU-member countries for several years, ... working in Germany and Austria ...
    (rec.travel.europe)
  • Re: "too much trouble to go to the polls", WTF!? (was Re: Compulsory
    ... Except that Germany then only allowed people with some German blood to ... be German citizens. ... Iceland and Japan are two other countries with the ... the legal fiction that all French citizens are treated equally. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.fandom)
  • Re: OT: OMG! What *will* we do?
    ... of what people who were claiming benefits were entitled to in different ... countries. ... I *think* that it was Germany that ... I think the scheme was called "Work makes you free". ...
    (uk.rec.motorcycles)
  • Re: Dick Cheney, a tribute
    ... Five signers were captured as traitors by the British, ... But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing ... Germany, again, are prime examples, with 10-12% unemployment rates. ... Moroccans, Algerians, and Turks that they let into their countries to do ...
    (rec.pyrotechnics)
  • Re: PHIL ALLISON: WW2 US - Australian relations. As off-topic asI can make it :-)
    ... and NZ had committed a big chunk of their resources to helping Britain ... The basic problem before WW2 was that certain countries were increasing ... matter of hoping a strong Germany would resist USSR's expansion (ironic ... When Japan attacked Pearl Harbour, America declared war on Japan only, ...
    (rec.audio.tubes)