A NEW group has been launched in Cambridge to fight Government plans for a national identity card.

Home Secretary David Blunkett announced the Identity Cards Bill, amid claims the cards could tackle terrorism, make national borders more secure and prevent abuse of benefits and public services. However, opponents NO2ID say cardholders will have to pay for the scheme and their "most intimate details will be controlled by the Government forever". Matt Freestone, a 33-year-old software developer, of Perne Road, Cambridge, is involved in setting up the Cambridge group. He said: "We oppose the Government's plans to introduce identity cards and a national identity register because they will significantly diminish personal privacy and threaten civil liberties.

"There's no evidence that ID cards prevent terrorism - unfortunately we have two recent examples in the 9/11 attacks where the terrorists were largely using their own IDs, and Madrid, where Spain's ID card scheme did nothing to deter the bombers.

http://w3.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/story.asp?StoryID=66088


From:
Aftermath News
Top Stories - December 11th, 2004