It would be useful so that you don't need to carry around your passport around the EU.
And I speak as a British national who, without my British passport, would not be able to prove my right to live and work in Britain.
Don't you have a birth certificate? Were you not born here?
Don't you have a birth certificate? Were you not born here?
Don't you have a birth certificate? Were you not born here?
No. Definitely not in favour of ID cards.
I don’t want the state having any more information about me than strictly necessary and being required to carry/produce ID on demand smacks of a police state to me. If carrying them was only optional it’s difficult to see the point.
Driving licence/passport should suffice for most people surely.
I believe it's common for US states to do this.
So what information do you think an ID card would carry that a driving licence/passport doesn't?
I don’t mind a voluntary scheme but they should not be compulsory....carrying one should definitely not be compulsory. Pretty sure a certain government did that back in the 1940’s.
25% of the people in my immediate family circle have neither. My sister-in-law had to apply for a provisional driving licence in order to open a bank account, even though she does not drive and never will. I consider this situation idiotic.Driving licence/passport should suffice for most people surely.
25% of the people in my immediate family circle have neither. My sister-in-law had to apply for a provisional driving licence in order to open a bank account, even though she does not drive and never will. I consider this situation idiotic.
I have opened (or tried to) several bank accounts recently as I was moving money around looking for best interest rates. Every time I have to take a wad of documents (Council Tax bills, previous bank statements, driving licence, utility bills etc) into the bank to try to prove who I am despite having been born and lived in UK all my life. I have been refused twice because there were "disparities" in the addresses. For example my county being "Monmouthshire" on some documents and "Gwent" (a previous name) on others, and the fact that the road I live on has no name. Post Office Savings was one refusal and you'd think that they of all people would understand addresses, and the Principality Building Society could only open an account for me after a senior manager managed to "trick" their computer. They say "Sorry, but our computer just rejects it". I even take a letter I obtained from my local council stating what my official address is, and confirming that my road has no name, but if it is different from the bank's database (that they buy from God knows where) it's no-go.
Driving licence/passport should suffice for most people surely.
... *to cover the cost of processing, printing, and posting and no more, there'd be no need to add you to a database or anything. ...
As noted, driving licence can't be issued to everyone, and passports do cost a fair bit. I remember arguing with someone about voter ID and they said something along the lines of "a passport is only £70 and for 10 years, it's only £7 a year, which is quite reasonable" having failed to realise that £70 is an awful lot of money for some people and could be the difference between eating that week, or paying for electricity. If the Government is going to press ahead with voter ID laws then they must ensure that it doesn't disenfranchise anyone - it costs nothing to vote now, so why should it have to cost £34 (provisional driving licence, assuming you can get one) to vote in the future. A £5/£10* ID card with little more information than a driving licence, ie Name, Address, DOB, signature and a photo would fix that issue, and at that sort of price it should be affordable, and if you cannot afford it, then the cost can be waived. Disenfranchising voters is a dirty underhand move.
Hell, having done a little bit of research something similar already exists in the form of ValidateUK cards and CitizenCard. Make them an official document, cut the price a little (and ability to waive the cost for low income) and you're halfway there. You don't have to force everyone to get one if they've already got a driving licence or passport, but it is there for the occasions when you can't get or afford the other more traditional options.
PS, don't forget to take your ID with you to vote on Thursday, assuming that you live and are voting in the Bromley local elections.