The end of the beginning
February 15th, 2006It’s been a crap week, hasn’t it? First up, identity cards. They’re coming. Unless the Lords show an extraordinary amount of spine, but I don’t think they will be able to stop the bill. The so-called concession that the cards won’t be compulsory is almost irrelevant, given that we’ll have to get one anyway when we apply for a passport. My own passport doesn’t expire till December 2013, so I’m hoping that by then the system will have overrun its budget, and become such a headache that the government of the time will have dumped it. If your passport is up soon, you might want to get in and renew it now before the ID card register is up and running (and in fact, get it done ASAP, as they are introducing biometrics on passports in April this year).
Failing that, if you’re lucky enough to have an Irish parent or grandparent, then you might be able to become an Irish citizen, and still retain full rights to reside and vote in Britain, thanks to the 1949 Ireland Act (although be warned, Ireland might not remain an ID system-free zone for long). Any connection with any other EU country, or a Commonwealth member, might also be handy to pick up on. Hell, maybe even marrying and a few years’ residence abroad could be a way out.
But, if you’re 100% pukka English*, foreign accents are a big turn-off, and you forget to get your passport renewed on time, it’s time for the face scans and fingerprinting, right? No, and there’s no need to be so pessimistic. Even if the ID system comes into being, there are still plenty of people willing to resist, plenty of people willing to be vigilant about its faults. Help them. Back them. This idiotic ID register will only succeed in snooping on and pretending to protect us if we let it. To use/paraphrase a well-worn cliché - this is not the end, but only the beginning.
* Yes, I am aware of the irony of using this phrase.
February 15th, 2006 at 23:24:47
“…if you’re lucky enough to have an Irish parent or grandparent…
Thank Christ for that. I do seem to recall hearing there was a clause in the Maastricht treaty that allowed any resident of the EU to register as a citizen of any other member state, so that might be worth trying. Andorra, here I come.
February 15th, 2006 at 23:35:58
Damn. Andorra’s not even a member state. That’ll be that plan shot down in flames, then.
February 16th, 2006 at 10:00:09
Is there anything to stop you renewing your passport now, before the biometric phase comes in in April?
February 16th, 2006 at 10:07:51
Just the cost, is all, so go ahead if you want.
February 16th, 2006 at 13:11:50
My passport renewal application is in the post. the only slight problem is that the obvious country to emigrate to - namely the missus’ - is about to introduce a bill which, if passed, will require all foreign residents to carry ID cards with fingerprints and other biometrics. Hurrah.
Strangely, however, I feel less uncomfortable about the idea of a foreign government holding my details than my own…
February 17th, 2006 at 15:55:38
I shouldn’t worry too much about the biometric passport features being introduced this year; the biometric is just a picture of your face on a chip, and is useless for identifying you against a database. The RFID aspect of the chip in the passport is troubling, and it’s pretty likely that ICAO and UKPS will stuff up the security, but if you’re worried about it you can always get a tinfoil passport holder. (Yes, I am serious.) And yes, there’s nothing to stop you renewing your passport before it expires; or, at least, not yet — if significant numbers of people renew early they might try to make a nuisance of themselves about it, but in that case you can always feed your passport to a passing dog.
This, by the way, won’t necessarily be enough to keep you off the NIR, because one of the powers the Bill would create is a power for the government to add “registrable facts” to the NIR from any other source independently of any application to be entered onto the NIR. The Passport Agency is already running an “identity verification scheme” for other bits of government based on an existing database of passports (I think this is the same IT project that Siemens stuffed up in the late ’90s, but I’m not completely certain about that) and given the current ID cards / passports convergence rhetoric I would be very surprised if they didn’t copy the passport data into the NIR as soon as the latter is up-and-running. However, even if you do have an NIR record they can’t demand that you produce an ID card until compulsion (i.e., what was s.6 compulsion, rather than designated documents compulsion) has been introduced.
Oh, any chance of a preview facility for the comments?
February 23rd, 2006 at 17:31:38
I have been the proud owner of an Irish passport for five years now. A boon in any pesky hostage situation, and invaluable when asked for ID in Boston pubs (sadly and increasingly rare occurence…) All those hours spent digging up my father’s birth certificate have been amply rewarded with many free drinks. Also I get a head start in the US Green Card lottery since Ireland has been awarded a wildly disproportionate allocation each year. Top of the morning to you, etc, etc, etc.