[Tubby Isaacs]

Assume it’s not going to be required to carry a phone about.

[Andy McDandy]

Ironic that the NO2ID crowd are - in my experience of dealing with them - more likely than not to be plastering their comings and goings all over the internet.

[Boiler]

Ironic that the NO2ID crowd are - in my experience of dealing with them - more likely than not to be plastering their comings and goings all over the internet.

Yep, frequently saw it in .sig files and avatars...

[Boiler]

Assume it’s not going to be required to carry a phone about.

Apparently, they are going to 'look into' how to deal with those without smartphones or passports.

This really does have a smell of some twenty-something SpAd thinking "but EVERYONE has a smartphone!", doesn't it?

Meanwhile, this petition is rapidly gaining pace.

[Tubby Isaacs]

They have people without smartphones in Estonia, I’m sure.

[Spoonman]

On the face of it a national ID card sounds like a good idea especially to complement all government services, provisions & legalities. The main problem I have with it however is that the way British sovereignty is applied in that it has no written constitution that would allow governments of the day to engage in regulatory creep (whereas other countries may have constitutional protections) that would be near impossible for the public to push back on. Not to mention concerns like @Samanfur mentioned to see the likes of Palantir getting their hands on such data - it's already a big problem IMO.

Plus, I'd be happier carrying a physical card rather than one attached to my phone.

I can't speak for Apple, but if you have an Android phone and look up your timeline on Google Maps, it will tell you everywhere you have been on any particular day. <snip>

I've such tracking turned off on my Google account as it is, and I only allow the maps on my phone to track on a single case-by-case basis. I should try and get Openstreetmap sorted some time.

Edit: Just to add, I think the reason this "Digital ID" is being promoted is to try and side-step R*form on the issue of immigration, they can go "Well, we've offered a potential solution for tacking illegal immigration and they just immediately go "uh-huh" - what exactly will they do instead?"

[Tubby Isaacs]

A lot will depend on whether it's done by the next election, That was the problem for Brown, people couldn't see any results with ID cards, just more expense coming when the government had a massive deficit. If it's already working at the next election, then it's much less likely to get scrapped for what ought to be relatively modest running costs.

[Tubby Isaacs]

The Government isn't happy with the OBR.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... hel-reeves

And they've got a point. The OBR is likely to downgrade productivity. Had it done so earlier, which well it might, Hunt wouldn't have been able to make his NI cuts fit his rule. So Reeves, having not really done much wrong, gets to either restore those NI cuts, raise taxes on other things, or cut spending by a not inconsiderable amount.

One point made is that Reeves' genuinely heavyweight advisor (now returned to academia) John Van Rennen got the OBR to score some positive productivity changes last year. The Government seems to be getting a fair bit of investment in. Can somebody persuade the OBR to score this or anything else that reduces the black hole in 5 years? Or perhaps Reeves can persuade the markets that there are other things on the way that will mean they'll hit the target in 5 years time?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Labour is in Government, with a large majority. Or at least I thought it was. According to Clive Lewis, this is being "destroyed".

[Tubby Isaacs]

Sensible response from Plaid Cymru on ID cards.

IDs could reduce some of the paperwork people face to access everyday services, but we are not convinced the UK government’s plans are really about making things easier. We are concerned about data security, and we will oppose any system that risks making monetising sensitive personal data for private companies or making it more vulnerable to cyberattacks.

It would be nice to have more of this sort of stuff than bollocks about the Stasi Starmer which seems to be standard with much of the English left.

[Oboogie]

I don’t really know how digital id cards are “an affront to our civil liberties”.

Agreed, also how will they make life more "difficult and dangerous" for anyone who is here legally?
If it did make life more difficult and dangerous, why would it disproportionately affect minorities, surely the ability to quickly prove you are who you say you are would be even more of a benefit to them?

[The Weeping Angel]

Rob Ford makes some good rebuttals to the arguments against ID cards.

[Yug]

It's a cynical attempt to force British people to be British

First Minister John Swinney has said he is opposed to a mandatory UK digital ID scheme as an infringement on daily lives.

In a social media post, he said Sir Keir Starmer was "attempting to force every Scot to declare ourselves British"...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce32k5rx7zko

What is he on?

[Abernathy]

Indeed. Every scot is British, even if some of us don’t much like it. He’s aff his chump.

[Oboogie]

It's a cynical attempt to force British people to be British

First Minister John Swinney has said he is opposed to a mandatory UK digital ID scheme as an infringement on daily lives.

In a social media post, he said Sir Keir Starmer was "attempting to force every Scot to declare ourselves British"...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce32k5rx7zko

What is he on?

Every Scot is British, that's Swinney's big beef, the raison d'etre for the SNP, if the Scots weren't British, Swinney would be out of a job.

[Tubby Isaacs]

What passport did Mr Swinney use when he went to meet Trump, one wonders? Did that involve "declaring himself to be British"?

I suppose it stopped him banging on about Scunthorpe Steelworks getting unfair largesse, so that's a plus. Swinney made a promising start, engaging positively with the Labour Government, not least on Grangemouth. He learned that lesson, started treating it as a betrayal (there's a detailed and well-funded plan for the site, there was nothing of the sort for Scunthorpe). He'll duly romp home in the Scottish Elections.

[Youngian]

Not the win you think it is. Tommy Robinson is so concerned about compulsory ID cards he lives in a country that has them.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Ha ha ha. How did the Yes side win the 1975 EU referendum, with Tony Benn and Enoch Powell against them?

[mattomac]

A lot of this data is already centralised, after all my provincial licence came with the photo that was on my passport.

My concern would be government overreach, not this one but the ones to come.

[The Weeping Angel]

https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/uk-st ... al-3936197

The i Paper however understands that the UK believes talks are still in their early stages, with EU relations minister Nick Thomas-Symonds exploring options.

If an agreement cannot be reached soon, the UK could still begin participating in Erasmus+ at a later date than January 2027, with the Government more focused on ensuring any deal works both for students and financially, given the programme has been criticised for costing Britain money in the past.

Erasmus deal ‘can bring people together’
Maurizio Cuttin, international spokesperson for the British Youth Council, believes a decision is coming on Erasmus+ in the coming weeks.

“We see that there is a renewed sense of optimism. People recognise the benefits that Erasmus+ can give to a young person starting out in their life and starting out in their professional career. And after years of isolation, we want to see Britain return to the scheme,

“We are optimistic and we hope that the UK Government commits to it. We see the benefits of Erasmus time and time again. And it’s time to get a move on on this.”