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Liz LynneLiberal Democrat MEP for the West Midlands 1999-2012 |
"Liberty Warning: Renew now for freedom" MEP
June 7, 2006 11:39 AM
Liz Lynne, Lib Dem MEP for the West Midlands, is drawing attention to the fact that members of the public can bypass New Labour's ID Cards scheme by renewing their passports early.
Liz Lynne said:
"New Labour might have managed to scrape their ID Cards scheme through Parliament, but there are hundreds of thousands of people across Britain who will resist it in any way they can".
"New Labour has said that getting an ID card is 'voluntary', but then cynically linked it to passport renewal from 2008. So renewing your passport for 10 years now will exempt you from being forced onto the ID Cards Register until 2016. If enough people do this, it will blow a large hole in New Labour's plans."
"The ID Cards scheme is expensive, intrusive, and ineffective. The Register behind the cards will allow the current and all future Governments to track and record citizens' movements, actions and private personal information in great detail. The massive centralised database will be a paradise for hackers and identity fraudsters. And with the Government's shambolic record on major IT projects, the costs may well end up ballooning to many billions of pounds."
"Dismissing New Labour scare stories the Euro-MP added: "The ID Cards scheme will not prevent terrorism, since most terrorists have perfectly valid identification. It will not prevent illegal immigration either, since by its nature this is clandestine. The only possible explanation for the ID Cards scheme is that New Labour want to extend the state's centralised control of its citizens."
"I urge people concerned about their privacy and an over-powerful State, to consider renewing their passports as soon as possible."
ENDS
Notes to editors:
1. For more information on the ID Cards campaign, see www.no2id.net. The Liberal Democrats have consistently opposed ID Cards.
2. Any person holding a valid passport can renew it without giving a reason. This can be done by post, with a form obtained from any Post Office. Alternatively, 4-day or same-day renewals can be done by making an appointment to visit a passport office - ring 0870 521 0410.
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