"ID cards have worked in Europe before…"
Samizdata flags the spiffy homepage of NO2ID, a group dedicated to blocking the UK Labour Party's efforts to introduce national ID cards as an "anti-terror" measure. The campaign's backed by a left-right coalition sweeping up allies from George Galloway's Respect party to the conservative, anti-Europe UK Independence Party.
Let's get this straight—it isn't just about identity cards. The government's identity scheme includes a huge database to keep tabs on everyone, a massive infrastructure to collect peoples' details, and a giant network of technology required to verify people against their cards and both of these against the database.
The card is just the tip of the iceberg.
It's a good cause that has a chance of winning, and then of providing a model for opposition to the inevitable U.S. ID bills that'll be cropping up in Congress soon. (If the GOP retains the House and Senate for Bush's last two years, I'll be shocked if the majority doesn't try to push through ID cards as part of an immigration deal.)
What's that? You want to see a video of the Pet Shop Boys ID card song "Integral" set to footage from the new Dr. Who?