22 December 2006
Message from NO2ID's National Coordinator
Thank you all for your continued support and phenomenal effort during what has been a year of highs and lows for the campaign.
We are now, of course, fighting a bad law - the Identity Cards Act 2006. But the scheme behind the Act is going nowhere fast. Still no sign of any tender documents, and 2008 is only just over 12 months away - the government's political timetable is a mess. The "new, clean database" promised by David Blunkett is to be replaced by parking tens of millions of people's personal, private information on multiple creaking systems and "data-sharing" - a recipe for disaster.
The fight goes on.
There is not enough space to thank individually every volunteer, group coordinator, member of NO2ID staff (all giving freely of their time) and supporter who has contributed to the campaign over the last 12 months but I am going to take the time to thank a man who many of you already know. Guy Herbert, NO2ID's General Secretary, is - in my opinion - a national hero. Without his tireless efforts, NO2ID would not be the organisation that it is today and our battle against the database state would not have been fought as intelligently and effectively as it quite clearly has. Thank you, Guy.
I wish you and your families a peaceful and ID-free Christmas, and look forward to what promises to be a critical year for freedom and privacy in the UK.
Phil Booth
National Coordinator, NO2ID
Review of the Year
2006 has been an eventful year for NO2ID. We head into 2007 with www.NO2ID.net named as one of the Top 5 "most useful" political websites by the Guardian, in such hallowed company as theyworkforyou.com and publicwhip.org.uk; 30,000 strong (and more besides) with over 100 active groups spread across every nation of the UK, and dozens of councils on our side; and with an ID scheme in disarray - but, like a wounded beast, more dangerous than ever.
Here's a reminder of just a few key moments of 2006, with the odd hint about what you can do to help stop ID cards and the database state in the New Year:
January
The knives were out in the Lords as the Identity Cards Bill entered its Report Stage. Staunch supporter of NO2ID, Lord Stoddart, conducted a straw poll in Swindon: "...of 400 people contacted, EIGHT were in favour of ID cards, and of those eight, six were uninformed about the National Identity Register. When they found out about it, they changed their minds." Friday 13th was unlucky for Tony Blair, when NO2ID group coordinator Melanie Skinner stormed down from Inverness to present Number 10 with a "free vote from the Highlands", showing a clear 70:30 split against ID cards.
Why not download our petition form [pdf] and see what people think near YOU? Please send all completed forms to the office address (on the form). The record for a single supporter is over 150 signatures... so far.
February
NO2ID protested outside Parliament on the day of crucial Commons vote on key cost and compulsion amendments by the Lords. Supporters lobbied both MPs and peers as the weird 'sport' of parliamentary ping-pong began. Proving just how bad the Home Office is at figures, the National Audit Office refused to sign off its accounts. NO2ID's 'Action Day' of workshops helped local groups and supporters in dealing with media, organising public meetings and lobbying representatives.
If you haven't done so before, why not tell your MP what you think of the ID scheme? Use http://www.writetothem.com/ to send a fax for free, after checking out his or her voting record at the bottom of our 'Public figures' page.
March
In an attempt to improve direct public communication with the House of Lords, NO2ID launched an online tool for lobbying peers. Parliamentary ping-pong equalled the record number of 'bounces' - making the Bill one of the most controversial measures to be introduced by the government since 1997. Local groups were already busy fighting the campaign on the streets and in the local media, so when March ended with the Bill passing and becoming the Identity Cards Act 2006, we were able to target the May local elections, highlighting local aspects of the ID scheme.
In this first quarter alone, Warwick, Durham, Newcastle, Swindon and North Wiltshire councils passed motions against ID cards. Whether your MP is pro- or anti-ID, why not lobby your council? It represents you too. More information, including model motions, here (NO2ID recommends you do this as part of a local group).
April
Hardy supporter Bob walked from the Scottish Borders to Derbyshire to raise money for NO2ID and, in his own words, help stop the "abrupt and total obliteration of the quiet anonymity which we have cherished for so long." NO2ID established its 100th local group in Leek, Staffordshire - hello, Laura! The UK Identity and Passport Service (UKIPS) was formed and immediately had an identity crisis as its five letter mnemonic collides with both the UK Independence Party and the United Kingdom Investment Performance Standard. NO2ID marked the moment with the aid of a clown and a giant passport.
Campaigning costs money. We desperately need your support. Our cramped office and mailing operation is funded entirely by regular givers but we need many, many more. Please make a donation or, preferably, set up a regular payment - we've made it even easier than before: http://www.no2id.net/getInvolved/join.php
May
May was 'Renew for Freedom' month. The launch brought together a diverse range of organisations including political parties, privacy and civil liberties groups and some of the largest campaigning bodies in the country. Answers to Parliamentary Questions asked later in the year indicate that over 50,000 more people renewed in May 2006 than in previous years. We spiked 'em :)
It's quite simple really. If you haven't done so already, and it's due to expire in the next 5-7 years, renew your passport to avoid compulsory Registration on the ID scheme for up to 10 years. http://www.renewforfreedom.org/ The first interrogation centres open their doors in spring 2007...
June
By the middle of the year, after the peak of activity in the spring, we were still registering 500 new supporters each month. NO2ID was chosen as one of 8 campaigns to be featured in 'Activ8', a BBC Action Network/Community Channel project. "Local" groups went international with the formation of NO2ID's expats group. Delegates of public services union Unison, the largest trade union in Britain, voted overwhelmingly (2000 to 2) at national conference to work with NO2ID against ID cards.
If you're reading this newsletter but it was originally sent to someone else, why not register your support and get your own? If you use the form on the front page of our website - http://www.no2id.net/ - you'll also receive a FREE supporters pack and alerts about NO2ID events in your area
July
NO2ID helped concerned parent David Clouter set up 'LeaveThemKidsAlone' - campaigning against the growing problems of child fingerprinting in schools. Within weeks, David had discovered over 200 schools across the UK that had fingerprinted children without the express permission of their parents, prompting media outrage. The Sunday Times, meanwhile, reported leaked emails which suggested not only that the ID scheme was "doomed" but that senior government officials thought they were "setting ourselves up to fail".
The database state has many tentacles. And it's coming for your kids. NO2ID wholeheartedly supports citizen-led initiatives such as http://www.leavethemkidsalone.com/ which not only fight important battles, but help educate the nation as to the nature and extent of the threat to all our freedoms and privacy.
August
Tony Blair spoke at a News International event and branded single-issue pressure groups "a malign tyranny". Surely he didn't mean us? NO2ID launched a new recruitment drive with the aim of forming a local group in each of the locations of the forthcoming ID interrogation centres - within the first month we reached 25 out of 69. The Conservatives released a 'mini-manifesto' saying that, if they win the next election, they will abolish ID cards. The Liberal Democrats promised to repeal the Identity Cards Act 2006 and, north of the border, the Scottish National Party remained implacably opposed.
We now have 36 out of 69. We need 69 out of 69 - please help us get there. Starting a local group need not be as hard as you think, and we provide as much help and resources as we can. Check out this page to see if there's a group near you and, if not, send an e-mail to
September
Delegates at the first day of Labour party conference all received a (free) copy of the Guardian carrying NO2ID's ad depicting Tony Blair with a barcode moustache and the tag line, "ID cards have worked well in Europe before". Manchester NO2ID distributed leaflets, stickers and postcards around the city. Surprisingly, the Advertising Standards Authority received just eight complaints about the ad. Unsurprisingly, the ASA later ruled that our ad was "not offensive". Because of the complaints, the ad was prevented from winning the Association of National Advertisers Award for which it was nominated. We never got a chance to make our speech, so thanks now to all those who made this possible.
NO2ID tells it like it is. As our press release said: Tony Blair is not Hitler, but he is building the tools of totalitarianism. We DON'T have any T-shirts of the Blair image (nor will we - it was designed to make a very specific point that would be lost in other contexts) but we DO have plenty of other campaign merchandise.
October
Over 600 people turned up to 'Who Do You Think You Are?'- NO2ID's first major fundraiser, held at the Hackney Empire in London. A packed house saw Dara O'Brien, Kevin Eldon, Lucy Porter, Andrew O'Neill, Paul Sinha, Josie Long, Wil Hodgson, Janie Pahyre, Gary Le Strange and Daniel Kitson (MC extraordinaire) on fine form, and for once got to laugh about ID cards. Meanwhile, the cost of a UK passport increased from £51 to £66 - a 100% increase since October 2003. Somewhere in London, NO2ID's security experts took delivery of an RFID reader...
At the end of October, we launched a mini-campaign on Fingerprinting in Pubs - following media coverage of the Home Office sponsored scheme in Yeovil. So far groups have set up in Coventry, Hull, Leeds, Nottingham, Sheffield, Swindon, Trowbridge and Yeovil. If you would like to get involved, please send an e-mail with the subject 'Fingerprinting in Pubs' to newsletter@no2id.net
November
NO2ID supporters in Ipswich and Norwich challenged planning applications for the proposed ID interrogation centres in their towns. Neither challenge managed to block permission (though both were left with clear grounds for appeal) but the action generated a lot of interest and started to get the phrase "interrogation centre" into the printed and broadcast media. The Information Commissioner produced a report warning that we were 'waking up in a surveillance society', and NO2ID teamed up with security experts to publicly demonstrate the insecurities of the new 'biometric' ePassport.
We have set up a webpage with all you need to know to track down an interrogation centre Please let us know if you find the planning permission for one of the remaining centres. The Home Office, under FOIA, have released 21 street addresses. NO2ID supporters have so far found 36.
December
Public focus switched to the lack of privacy and choice involved in NHS Care Records as NO2ID helped launch 'TheBigOptOut.org' (TBOO) alongside GPs, members of the BMA, the Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR), hospital administrators and patients. The Chief Medical Officer almost immediately did something stupid, and the man responsible for the disastrous NHS IT upgrade, Lord Warner, tried spinning a Christmas U-turn just days after announcing his resignation. In a brazen bit of 'burying bad news', the Home Office finally released its 'ID Action Plan' - to almost universal derision - on the last day of parliament before the recess.
Preserve medical privacy, opt out NOW. To find out more, before sending a copy of TBOO's letter to your GP, read: http://www.TheBigOptOut.org/?page_id=9
Much, much more in the New Year...
Publication details: © NO2ID 2010 - This document may be freely redistributed
in one-to-one communications or physical copies as long as it is reproduced
in its entirety including this notice. It may not be mass-mailed without
the prior permission of NO2ID.
Newsletter Archive
The NO2ID Campaign
Box 412
19-21 Crawford Street
London W1H 1PJ
enquiries@no2id.net
Tel: 07005 800 651
Press: click here
