eurealist.co.uk

The Guardian has an article pointing out the hazards the introduction of this central data base will hold for our freedoms, I am impressed that Henry Porter the journalist who wrote the article has pointed out on of my fears with a lot of this intrusive legislation we are seeing from the present administration but that we with we cannot predict the nature of future governments.

The article fininshes thus:

This is a chilling prospect, and we should ask ourselves whether we’re willing to trust the government with such power. Has the prime minister’s behaviour before and after the release of the September WMD dossier been so scrupulous as to suggest that his government would not in extremis abuse such an instrument? Did Mr Blunkett’s respect for the traditions of liberty and free speech suggest that we could have had complete faith in him? What about his successor? Let us hope that he is more able to weigh the likely benefits against the undoubted loss of liberty.

Simply working on the evidence in the serious organised crime and police bill, I suggest that the restriction of defendants’ rights, the curbs on protest and the measures relating to arrest are enough to conclude that the government’s aim is to increase the power of the state at the expense of civil liberties. Yet the real concern must be not with Blair, with what Blunkett did or even what Charles may do, but with future governments, the nature of which we cannot predict.

We may fret about illegal immigration and improper use of the NHS, but the national identity register, which will include adults’ fingerprints and an electronic scan of the face or iris, as well as date of birth and address, is the tyrant’s ideal means of control. This is presumably why other English-speaking countries have rejected compulsory schemes backed up by penalties.

If we are to accept this sinister legislation, which will cost upwards of £3bn, we should know that it will be a matter of time before a government insists that the unique key to every adult’s genetic profile be included on the card. With that would come a data bank of every individual’s DNA to be accessed by God knows whom, with God knows what terrifying purpose. Later versions of the ID card might carry a chip called a radio frequency identification (RFID), which can be read from a distance. Thus anyone carrying a card who passes a sensor will give away their position.

This is not science fiction. RFID technology is being tested for US passports, and the British police are covertly monitoring an individual’s movements with analogous technology on motorways.

We must not imagine that respect for individual liberty is innate to the British establishment. With this bill, the government is attempting to change for ever the relationship between the individual and the state in the state’s favour. Those who treasure liberty must not let it pass