ID cards now Blunkett has departed
Charles Clarke, the new Home Secretary, has said there is no going back on ID cards despite David Blunkett's resignation. This is unsurprising given (much like the Tory party) the leader is in favour.Nevertheless I have a suggestion of a way to improve the scheme whilst keeping British civil liberties intact.
Only criminals and terrorists should be made to carry them.
All of the proposed benefits in stopping terrorism and catching criminals would be preserved without any of the costs. Actually I forgot 'benefit cheats'. So let's revise that - Only criminals and terrorists and benefit cheats should be made to carry them.
Naturally the difficulty would be in spotting such people before they committed a crime, or terrorist attack, or cheated the system. The Metropolitan Police used to have a simple method of doing this, but it was found to be somewhat inaccurate and has fallen rather out of favour in recent years.
Another method would be to directly ask everyone. This may seem ludicrous, but it is after all the method used by the US immigration service, particularly with respect to Nazis.
Further suggestions welcome.
posted by Matthew @ 12/16/2004 09:37:00 AM
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