Monday, December 04, 2006
Poll - opposition to I.D. schemes
Public reacts against "Big Brother"
A YouGov poll in today's Daily Telegraph shows a marked shift in public attitudes towards the "big database" and the government's I.D. Card schemes.
The poll suggests that hundreds of thousands of people, maybe even millions, would refuse to register on the proposed database that will underpin the scheme, even if this meant a fine or going to jail. It also indicates growing public concern at the encroachment of the so-called "surveillance society", with large proportions suspicious of the Government's intentions. (Click the graphic to enlarge and see the details - courtesy of The Telegraph.)
Support fot the I.D. Card scheme appears to have fallen from 80% in favour down to around only 50%, but the biggest worry for our legislators is the massive lack of public trust in the ever growing national databases and their encroachment into our lives, with many people expressing a severe distrust in the security of any such databases. Even more worrying for Tony Blair and John Reid must be the amount of people who are prepared to risk a fine, or even a prison sentence, by refusing to hand over their details when requested. If these findings were translated into the general populus this could result in thousands or perhaps millions rebelling against the scheme, it could be more potent than the revolts against the introduction of the Poll Tax!
Support for the ID cards was strongest among Labour voters and weakest among Tories and Liberal Democrats, whose parties have said they would scrap the scheme.
Philip Johnston in a separate Telegraph article notes that Tony Blair wrote New Britain: My Vision of a Young Country, in 1996, in which he said:
"Instead of wasting hundreds of millions of pounds on compulsory ID cards, let that money provide thousands more police officers on the beat in our local community."
So what made Tony have such an about face, to the extent that we could be threatened with prison for failing to keep your details up to date? Surely he doesn't believe that the introduction of identity cards will somehow prevent a terrorist atrocity, nothing could be more fanciful!
There is a clear message here for this government: we don't mind cctv cameras that provide safety and security, but we will not be happy with data gathering devices or methods that track our daily movements, we are not confident in your assertions that our identities will be kept secure and confidential, and we worry that only a handful of "bad apples" could upset the "apple cart" and make our personal security and identity even less secure. We do not trust you on this I.D. Card scheme!
Links
Telegraph YouGov Poll
Rebellion stirs
I.D. Cards won't work
NO2ID
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