The voting system is helping extreme political parties, senior Labour figures said last night. Labour MPs and peers warned that the first-past-the-post system was allowing "safe" seats to become a breeding ground for extremists.

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June 27, 2005

ID Cards

Let's - just for the briefest of moments - ignore the civil liberties aspects, and focus on the cost. Remember, we're going to have to pay for ID cards, they won't be handed out gratis by HMG. Now figures such as £80 have been mentioned, but that figure was based on the governments original costings. As experience shows, large government IT projects never run to schedule or budget. In fact the LSE reckons that the latest scheme could cost as much as £19.2bn, or the equivalent of 760 new schools. Given the way costs to the public have been calculated, that would result in the ID card costing up to £300.

The latest spin is to refer to the incremental cost above and beyond the cost of a new biometric passport. But that is being disingeneous to say the least. I have - on point of principle - not held a valid UK passport for nearly 10 years now. So it wouldn't be an incremental cost to myself. Besides which, you have choice regarding whether or not to hold a passport, but the ID card would be compulsory.

Now one of the many alleged benefits of the ID card is to protect us from identity fraud. In exactly the same way that chip-and-pin would aid the fight against credit card fraud. Except, of course, there's a way around that.

The Times -
"You just have to open the interface where the data is stored, copy it and take it home," the manager said. "I have never accessed it, but if I wanted to I could. If the data is stored here the tech guys can get to it too."

And the Government has already made reference to the biometric passport data being checked in Mumbai, India.

The Register - The UK is to outsource visa application checks "wherever there is an outsource partner", following trials in its largest visa posts in Mumbai, Delhi and Islamabad. This process, which will be implemented alongside the introduction of biometrics for all visa applications, is intended to cover at least 60 per cent of an annual total of 2.5 million applications by 2008, saving £3.7 million via a reduction of "46 staff years per year".

So much for reducing fraud. The ID card system as proposed will actually make people more vulnerable, as a biometric ID card will supposedly carry greater credibility.

And guess who's in the line for developing the ID card systems? Yup, that's right, EDS. The very same EDS responsible for the Treasury's absolutely spiffing tax credit systems. Just the sort of incompetant outfit you want on such a critical, sensitive and high profile project. The Telegraph - The US-based company EDS expects to grab a "big slice" of the multibillion-pound contract to produce and supply the high-tech cards to every adult in Britain by 2008 - to the alarm of many MPs.

The Treasury is threatening to take EDS, which supplied the project's original computer system, to court. Altogether, £1.9 billion was sent out in tax credit overpayments, of which about £600 million was caused by computer or clerical errors.

Even without moving in to areas of civil liberties, ID cards are just a bad idea, unnecessary, unreliable and unwanted, in spite of Blair's words. When you then consider the effects on our basic freedoms, things get very frightening. All we can do is encourage and exhort our MPs to vote against this atrocious piece of legislation, and let them know that we support their opposition to the bill. At the same time, we can expect the PLP to use any methods it deems necessary to force through unpopular legislation.

The Independant - Whips seek to control dissident backbenchers by withholding all-expenses-paid official trips to exotic locations (Link courtesy of Bloggerheads

If ever there were a time for a rebellion by Labour MPs it is now. With Labour's majority reduced and the concept of ID cards so unpopular, Blair runs the risk of seeing the government defeated on this issue. So I ask every MP with doubts about ID cards to ignore the Party line, and vote according to their conscience.

UPDATE - Excellent post from the UK Polling Report on the falling popularity of ID cards over at The UK Polling Report (Link courtesy of Leon)

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June 21, 2005

Sledgehammer

Now that's a highly laudable sentiment, especially post 11th September, but the act lacks finesse. In fact, worse than that, the act grants the Government disproportionate powers to act against instances of percieved incitement.

The Independant - Atkinson makes final bid to stop religious hate BillHe [Atkinson] said: "The Government has prepared a weapon of disproportionate power which can be deployed on their behalf at any time, or at least act as a very forbidding deterrent."

Atkinson said the "most creepy and disturbing" aspect of the Bill was the power it gave Government over whether to launch prosecutions. The Bill's opponents are backing an amendment to the race-hate laws to make clear that they cover attacks on religious beliefs if they are a "proxy" for racial attacks.

As with ID cards, opinion seems to be divided, with one group arguing that given such powers the government will eventually use them, whilst the other camp views such attitudes as being paranoid. Paranoid perhaps, but the government does have previous form on this matter.

Consider the recent case of the exclusion zone implemented around Westminster. As manic points out in this post:Bloggerheads - The Terrorists Win. Again. But the Act gave ministers the power to draw up an exclusion zone anywhere up to one kilometre from the Palace of Westminster. The map of the zone reveals Home Secretary Charles Clarke has used his new power to the full extent. The only significant site left out of the zone is Trafalgar Square after ministers accepted that it is a traditional venue for demonstrations.

No one is denying that inciting religious hatred is despicable, but this piece of legislation is not the way forward. If you value your right to freedom of expression then you'd better hope that the bill doesn't pass its second reading today.

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June 7, 2005

Snippets from Ynys Mon - #1

In any case, the law has returned in the form of a local policeman pounding the beat (only daytime, but welcome all the same) and a traffic warden (unwelcome by one and all it would seem). My suspicion is that the very low level of graffiti, the lack of obvious street crime (apart from the odd boy-racer) owes more to the sense of commmunity than any new regulations. Which shows how treating the symptoms (banning hoodies, taxing purveyors of alcohol) is not the way forward. Instead a return to a sense of community of the type that appears to endure here would appear to be the best approach.

The Welsh Highland Railway shows that in some cases it is possible to have a win-win situation. Traffic in Snowdonia is a problem, especially during the tourist season. Towns like Beddgellert almost suffocate under the burden of tourist traffic, and being a national park imposes strict restrictions on options to increase the capacity of the road network. Besides, who wants to see such an area disappear under widened roads. Anyway, back to the WHR. Over recent years they've gradually been extending their route from Canaerfon to Dinas, Waunfaur and now Rhyd Ddu. Their plan has always been to join up with the Ffestiniog Railway at Porthmadog, thus providing a route for rail-based public transport from North to South through the heart of Snowdonia. The challenge was to find the £10.5 million needed to complete the line. Both the EU (£5 million) and the Welsh Assembly (£5 million) have guaranteed funds, conditional on the WHR raising £500,000 itself. Well all credit to the WHR, who've raised over £800,000 so far, thus ensuring receipt of &10 million
in grants. By 2007 there will be a new route through the heart of a beautiful national park, sympathetic to the environment (locomotives are all fuel efficient oil burners rather than coal) and integrated with the rest of the public transport infrastructure. The only tragedy is that this sort of joined up thinking is sadly lacking elsewhere in the UK.

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June 2, 2005

Europe

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June 1, 2005

No surprise (and no class either)

It would seem that Cherie is exploiting a grey area, an ability which comes naturally given her legal background. But we've been here so many times before. The book, the freebie gifts, the jollies at the expense of others, the only wonder is that she's got away with it for so long. If she wants to do a lecture tour, why not do one billed as Cherie Booth - My father was a womanising socialist actor. Doesn't have quite the same ring to it, does it.

To be honest, one of the many benefits of Tony's eventual departure is that we'll probably get to see Cherie appearing on such c-list shows as Through the Keyhole. It's hard to imagine just quite how foolish they'll make themselves appear once the strictures of Tony's political life are behind them, but I'm sure they'll manage it somehow.

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Europe

The referendum result is a blow for the constitutional process, but not the end of it. - Gerhard Schroeder.

All 25 member states must express their view. We can't just take those of one or two countries - Jose Manuel Barroso

Meanwhile, Tony Blair appears to be trying to twist the French and Dutch rejections to his own ends. Originally considered opinion had it that Blair would stand down after a referendum on the constitution next year. Regardless of the outcome, it all seemed certain that Blair would hand over to Brown, but now it appears that he may hang on until 2007. Such a decision would be bad for the Labour Party and bad for the country, though Brown may see it as an excuse to let Blair take the heat during the rough ride the government is likely to experience over the next two years.

Worse still, it seems likely that Blair will try to drop the idea of holding the referendum. Now while it may seem obvious that with two countries already having rejected the constitution there seems little point in holding a referendum, the fact is that without a vote, it is possible for the Blairites to misrepresent the mood of the public. If the referendum is abandoned, then it should be replaced by a definitive statement from the government to the effect that Europe must re-assess the direction it wishes to take. And by Europe, I am refering to the citizens of the member countries, not the ruling cabal that even now continues to drive forward in an unaccountable manner.

If Europe wishes to challenge the American global hegemony, then attempting to emulate the opposition is not the way forward. Trying to become the United States of Europe will leave us vulnerable to becoming that which we seek to challenge. We do need to move forward, but as individual states with a common goal, not a superstate dominated by cliques, cabals and vested interests. In such an environment, Blair is not the right person to lead this country. He is too tainted by the neo-cons concept of democracy, where the will of the people is only to be heeded when it supports American policy.

As The Guardian points out:
Brownites are unruffled by talk of the prime minister no longer being pinned down to leaving office, in ignominy or glory, after the UK referendum delivers its own resounding yes or no some time between now at the EU's November 2006 deadline for ratification.

Partly because the Brownites always regarded the constitution as a distraction (a "red herring", said one last night) from what is the EU's real debate: jobs, skills and facing up to the global challenge from China and India.

There are many aspects of Gordon Brown that I am critical of, but his position on Europe is not one of them.

More entertaining is the idea of Ken Clarke trying, for a third time, to become leader of the Conservatives. One would have thought that by now he'd got the message that he'll never be leader, but apparently not.

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