ID cards on us
So over the issue of ID cards I was right - the Tories are go!Foreign readers might find this confusing. Many British political discussion appears to give the impression the Conservatives are a libertarian party and I suppose Michael Howard has striven to look like this, talking of a 'bonfire of red tape' and (as Nick Barlow reminds us) his famous comment that a Man Cannot Give Birth to a Pebble...whoops wrong Tory....er that
I believe The People should be Big. That The State should be Small.
I can square this particular circle. Here is an average Conservative voter (I've have hidden his identity) stood next to an ID card. As you can see the People are Big, and the State (as represented by the ID card) is indeed small.
So generally there were two reasons for the Conservatives to oppose this measure. One is that it is profoundly anti-libertarian and the party does have some libertarian impulses. However Michael Howard does not, and he was never going to go down this route. Second was what David Davis was arguing the other week: that it is going to cost a lot of money and is unlikely to achive anything. Given many Tories still look fondly back to the Poll Tax this was never going to be a killer argument, but in any case by the time the Tories are back in office the introductory costs, which presumably will be the majority of the costs (at least in present value terms) will have been spent. Sunk. Etc.
posted by Matthew @ 12/14/2004 09:15:00 AM
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