Richard's Kingdom

The new Conservative-Liberal coalition Government today announced it intends to pass a “Freedom” or “Great Repeal” Act. This will: Scrap the ID card scheme, the National Identity register, the next generation of biometric passports and the ContactPoint Database. Outlaw the finger-printing of children at school without parental permission. Extend the scope of the Freedom of [...]

Over the last two parliaments the British state has grown ever more authoritarian. Personal liberty has been sacrificed on the altar of public opinion for political ends. The false dichotomy of privacy versus security has been used repeatedly to justify robbing us of the former while failing to deliver the latter. Billions of pounds have [...]

The UK National Identity Card can be cloned and altered by IT security experts. Colour me unsurprised. The consultants who carried out this work are from the same community of experts who have been warning [pdf] that the cards would be cracked since the Home Office first disclosed the mechanics of the scheme. The alterations [...]

Dear Richard Caborn MP, In recent days the Home Secretary has announced that airside workers at Manchester and City airports will no longer be compelled to enroll with the National Identity Register as a condition of their continued employment. This news has been presented as a pledge that Identity Cards will never be compulsory for [...]

To: Alan Powell, Editor, The Star Dear Sir James Hall is wrong to claim ID cards will be voluntary (Letters, 10 June). Sheffield residents won’t be forced onto the National Identity Register directly, unless they’re from outside the European Economic Area, however the Government intends to make it impossible for us to live without an [...]