Typical political scumbaggery
Complaining about the cost of the break clauses in contracts that Blunkett himself signed up to.
The cost of compensating suppliers after the scrapping of the ID card scheme is likely to hit £2.25m, Home Office Damian Green has confirmed. Green disclosed the figure in a letter to former Labour Home Secretary and erstwhile ID card enthusiast David Blunkett, the Daily Telegraph reports. On top of the payments of £2.25m to …
In 2007, David Blunkett registered he had a financial interest in a Texan company called Entrust which was bidding for work on the British card:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2007/mar/25/uk.idcards
Blinky also seems to be having memory problems:
'Blunkett seeks 'end to ID cards'
'Former Home Secretary David Blunkett says the government should scrap plans to introduce ID cards for all in favour of mandatory biometric passports.'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8022791.stm
But look on the bright side, Shagger Blunkett was being spied on by News International at the same time he was being paid to write his column for 'The Sun'. Apparently he's outraged by the intrusion on his privacy.
Personally I feel sorry for the dog.
This "economy", it wouldn't be a euphemism for, "the pockets of the directors of services companies" would it?
Incidentally I suspect they're probably mates with Blunkett and knew damn well this this bird wouldn't fly and just waited for the compo payments to roll back in after it got scrapped!
This clearly demonstrates that our personal data was not adequately managed and raises the question whether these so-called IT suppliers are even entitled to compo. What would the resulting system have looked like, had common sense not prevailed in scrapping it?
"Just developing the "policy, legislation and business case" attracted a £41m price tag."
And we wonder why this country is so wrapped up in red tape when we support the industries that makes this stuff up with as much money as they can stand being thrown at them.
Better off investing in sci/tech industry, they might at least come up with something that people will want.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if these so called "intelligent" politicians, who supposedly represent the majority interests of the electorate, could be held accountable for these costs and made to repay the country in full.
I guess the only mitigation is that Blunkett couldn't possibly have read what he was signing.
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but none of the people who purchased one? The government justification for not compensating people who bought a card was that they were aware that a different government would scrap the ID card register and make there cards null and void. However when it comes to businesses the same doesnt apply? Typical from this shower currently in government.
The people who bought a card knew a different govt would scrap them, and knew they would not be compensated if that happened.
The companies involved also knew a different govt would scrap them, so ensured they would not be out of pocket by putting clauses in the contract to cover this eventuality.
To give you an example, I once took a 6-month contract with a company the other end of the country. To do this, I rented a flat, which required a 6-month lease. When negotiating my contract with the company, I made them put in a clause which would cover paying out the landlord if they got rid of me before the 6-month period. These clauses are fairly standard throughout business.
However, in this case I see a more sinister reasoning. Blunket negotiates a large cancellation clause as insurance for himself. He knows Labour is unlikely to win the next election. When they loose, and the next govt decides to scap the project, he can point out how much money the govt is spending just to get out of the contracts, quietly ignoring how much money will be saved by doing so.
Any price is a small price for personal freedom. UK quickly becoming a "police state", What with spy cameras all over the place and microphones hidden in lampposts so they can eavesdrop on conversations. Litter police, council spies going through our dustbins, offering rewards to the people to report one another "Statzie style. While all along the politicians are filling their coffers through dubious expenses claims and scams.
The companies that signed these contracts knew the scale of opposition to the scheme and that the project was doomed unless new labour could defy the odds and win the last election.
The contracts should have been declared void, purely on the basis of these unfair cancellation clauses. Any company that claims compensation should be blacklisted from future government projects.
Nothing will kill off any hope of resurrecting this hated scheme than massive financial losses inflicted on those who got involved last time.
Poor Blunkett - I'm sure his whinge about money down the drain has absolutely no connection with his employment by Entrust, the provider to various European ID card schemes, previously pitching for a snout in the UK ID card trough:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/26/blunkett_cashes_in/
Given that the last administration rushed through a load of contracts for ID cards, hence why the companies need compensation for terminating contracts, can we bring back surcharging (like shirley porter got)?, and present the previous ministers with the bill?
Especially as Charles Clarke ignored advise from the LSE and 100 experts in the releveant subjects.