back to article Manchester united against ID cards, ID minister finds

The put-upon people of Manchester got the chance to quiz Home Office minister Meg Hillier on ID cards yesterday, while Parliament got an update on the national identity register - the database at the heart of the project. Sir Joseph Pilling told the Home Affairs committee that 538 people were now on the database - one of them …

COMMENTS

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  1. Graham Marsden
    FAIL

    Same old same old...

    ... Spin, lies, deceptions, half-truths, attempts to convince turkeys to vote for Xmas and so on...

    Why does the expression "Rearranging the Deckchairs on the Titanic" come to mind...?

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Not just the ID card...

    Meg - it's not just the ID card people don't want - it's you !! Get the message?

    Oh - I forgot - you just never listen, do you?

    Used to be a line between how one party viewed democracy and how another viewed it. These days it's hard to spot any New Labour front bencher that gives even lip service to democracy itself.

    For God's sake, Gordon, Jack, Meg ... and all the rest ... just GO !!!!! Or are you planning to deprive us of that right too...?

  3. Old Painless
    Stop

    "no" and "chance"

    This Manc won't submit to an enforced ID Card with a gun to his head.Long live the Peoples Republic of Manchester! Barricade the M6!

    1. david bates

      @Old Painless

      As anyone between Birmingham and Manchester will tell you the Highways Agency has been attempting to do this for YEARS, with varying degrees of success.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Yay, working comments.

    Look into my eyes look into my eyes, not around the eyes and you're under..

    There's massive support for ID cards, it's not a colossal fail, the number of issued cards is actually 538,000... The public loves us

    Damnit, you're right, I can't do it...

  5. H 4

    Know your enemy

    To know about the ID card and national identity register scheme is to be against it.

    I have personally turned a mini several of people round from being mildly for the scheme to being very much against it after just a few minutes of quietly reasoned conversation. It's remarkable to me that many people are prepared to happily sleepwalk into a future of diminished freedoms and reduced privacy at the behest of a Government that has in truth no right to know much more about them than how many of us cast our vote in their general direction. A Briton's vehement adherence to his personal principles of dignity and privacy is worth preserving, and once lost likely gone forever.

    The best way to protect your identity is to keep it private, including from the Government. Especially from the Government. Ergo the database should be ditched. Here's to you, lovely sensible Mancunians.

  6. Tom 106

    Oi

    Meg, go and jump of Tower Bridge and take the ID scheme with you.

    Long live the peoples Republic of Mancunia.

  7. Scott 19

    Knowing our Guberment

    They will be flyering the next home Man Utd game to promote this.

  8. dreamingspire
    Happy

    Mystic Meg is right

    Meg is right that nobody can steal your identity - not without stealing your fingerprint biometrics, they can't. They can still impersonate you, however, in lots and lots of situations where the biometrics are not used for authentication - and today that is every situation except for asking for a replacement ID card, as accepted by Meg in her recent radio spot.

    Registering makes the data that you supply your official identity, which you are stuck with until the world ends.

  9. Shades

    Dear Meg,

    You, and the rest of the pricks in charge, can shove the ID cards where the sun don't shine. Sideways. With no lube!

    Wankers!

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    4% of the population want ID cards.

    That's correct, two thirds.

  11. mistertee

    You will take my fingerprints...

    ... from my cold dead hands.

  12. Nomen Publicus
    FAIL

    Not even MPs sign up

    The BBC is reporting that less than 600 people are in the database. That means, not only has Manchester ignored the extensive (sic) publicity, but not even MPs are signed up.

    BTW, the only publicity I've seen was a single, full page ad in the Metro newspaper and a little coverage on the local TV news, where they didn't even give the URL for the web site.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Don't know about Man U ...

    but it seems to me ID card supporters don't even come from planet Earth.

  14. Dan 10
    FAIL

    Shiny new comment system, yay!

    Labour stronghold or not, Manchester was at least smart enough to see off the Congestion Charging scam, so with any luck, this will suffer a similar fate as people wake up to it.

    Talking of which, wouldn't it be a good idea for NO2ID to be getting some publicity in the region, as per the anti-CC lobby when that was about?

  15. Chris007
    Joke

    Apparently a title is required

    "So, there you are, ID cards are like Man United - all the supporters live outside Manchester."

    In the last survey of season ticket addresses, any which were outside a 1 mile radius of their respective premier league club were classed as non-local.

    The results were interesting for the fact the Liverpool came top with Man Utd a mere fourth

    PS About the only thing Liverpool have been top off for a while now :-)

    1. Kamal Hashmi

      re: Apparently a title is required

      Only a mile?!!?!?! That makes me a "non-local" and I regularly walk to OT for matches!

      What half-wit devised that survey?

  16. Amazon Wageslave
    Thumb Up

    Delightfully snarky article, nice one John

    "This grassroots, reach-out web chat was an enormous success in turning round public opinion using just reasoned argument - think Peel's speech on the Corn Laws. The online poll carried out by the paper, clearly not astro-turfed by any special interest group, found four per cent of respondents were in favour of the cards against 96 per cent of people who were against it."

    Made me giggle. Keep up the good work El Reg and NO2ID, not long till we get rid of this shower of eejits at Westminster. Admittedly, they'll be replaced by other eejits, but you can't always get what you want.

  17. Ascylto
    Big Brother

    Stalinists

    Why do I have this mind-picture of Meg with her fingers in her ears going ... La, la, la?

    This government is so thick it can't even shift its attention from Manchester. We gave them two fingers for the Congestion Charge lying and now another two fingers for the ID Card.

    Which part of 94% against do you not understand?

  18. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Happy

    And don't forget ID card holders

    If your details change you *must* report them to the ID card office ASAP.

    For the rest of your lives.

    197 days maximum

  19. Jacqui Smith's DVD Collection!
    Flame

    She's my MP!!!

    But they sent Dianne Abbott around campaigning what with her being popular and nice and not hurting a fly etc...

    I really should write that letter telling her how I've always voted Labour except when Jim Fitzpatrick was the candidate and how I'd rather vote Tory (spit) than see my vote go to her.

  20. PerfDave
    Alert

    No2ID Publicity

    Dan 10, why not help NO2ID create publicity in Manchester, by attending their demo on Monday or helping out the local group (or supporting or starting your own wherever you live)? Full details as ever at http://manchester.no2id.net/

  21. Nebulo
    Joke

    A comedy career beckons

    Hillier said: "But another real benefit is that once you have registered no-one can steal your identity" and "the databases will be very secure - think Police National Computer. No-one will be able to download information and it will not be on PCs on people's desks."

    She'll have a slot on Radio 4 after the election, that's for sure.

    (Thanks, El Reg - didn't even have to edit the quote!)

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