29 March 2007
ID-DAY EXPOSES ID INTERROGATIONS WITH STILL A MONTH TO GO
Many thanks and congratulations to everyone who arranged or participated in
ID-Day activities across the UK on Monday 26th and in the days leading up to it.
Media coverage from Scotland to the South coast; public meetings, protests,
street theatre, stalls, leafleting and even a comedy gig, all waking up even
more of the public to the threat of the government's authoritarian ID scheme and
network of interrogation centres.
ID-Day was a graphic demonstration that it's not only high-profile or
London/Westminster-focussed events that get our message across - it is essential
that we engage the public directly and through local media, reaching people
where they live. Even one or two people can make a difference if they're willing
to stand up and tell it like it is.
You may have already seen signs of Home Office spin in response - stories
planted in the local press to try to defuse local dissent. A transparent attempt
to justify interrogations by admitting to issuing an estimated 10,000 dodgy
passports last year seriously backfired, leading to further condemnation and
ridicule.
As public trust dissolves, now is the time to push even harder.
People can still "Show them you're not a number"* and we have to reach all those
soon to become liable for interrogation so they can apply for a passport before
it's too late.
Unsurprisingly, we learn that the Home Office schedule has slipped yet again.
The first few interrogation centres (in Peterborough, Belfast, Glasgow and
Newport) are now not expected to open for business until May. Please use this
extra time to keep spreading the word - downloading and distributing our "Take a
hike, Tony" factsheet from http://www.renewforfreedom.org and promoting NO2ID's
"Show them you're not a number" photo protest [details below].
We've further actions for when the centres actually begin to open - but with a
further onslaught of database state initiatives and legislation in the pipeline,
we must ensure that our collective 'NO' rings out ever louder across the land.
--
* We'll be keeping the line open for people to send us their photos - details at
http://www.no2id.net/id-day - for the next few weeks, at least until the first
centres open their doors. Please note that NO identifying information (even the
number of the phone from which the MMS was sent) is stored or linked to any image.
What's next?
Local groups
We have groups all over the country and in 36 of the 69 locations of ID
interrogation centres. If you can help to set up a local group in one of the
remaining towns then please contact us at (office@no2id.net). A full list of
local groups can be found at (www.no2id.net/localGroups)
Home Affairs Committee seeks contributions for surveillance society
inquiry - but hurry!
This week the Home Affairs Committee launched an inquiry entitled "A
Surveillance Society?". The inquiry will focus on the following areas: "Access
by public agencies to private databases; Data-sharing between government
departments and agencies; Existing safeguards for data use and whether they are
strong enough; The monitoring of abuses; Potential abuse of private databases by
criminals; The case for introducing privacy impact assessments;
Privacy-enhancing technologies; Profiling". They are seeking written submissions
of no more than 2,500 words by *Monday 23rd April*! So there's a little job for
the Easter break. Further details are at:
www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/home_affairs_committee/hacpn070327no18.cfm
Saturdays 1pm - 3pm - NO2ID Edinburgh Campaign stall
After a short break during Christmas and Hogmanay NO2ID Edinburgh has resumed
its regular Princes Street campaigning stall on Saturdays. We shall be at our
usual location at the east end of Princes Street, opposite the Balmoral Hotel,
from 1pm - 3pm. We use our stall to raise public awareness of the Identity Cards
scheme, collect donations and entries for the NO2ID petition, and also to
increase membership of our group. Please do pop by for a chat if you happen to
be around. We aim to have the stall up and running most Saturdays, and new
volunteers are always very welcome. You can see photos of our stall and group
contact details at: www.no2id-scotland.net/edinburgh/
29th March - Chelmsford - 'Personal Privacy or Surveillance State?'
Thursday, 29th March 7.30 for 7.45, Local Green Lectures presents an open
meeting and discussion evening on 'Personal Privacy or Surveillance State?' at
Friends' Meeting House, 82 Rainsford Road, Chelmsford. Speakers: Tony Bunyan,
Editor, Statewatch - "The war on terrorism and the surveillance society", Guy
Herbert, General Secretary, NO2ID - "Stuck in the middle: you and the database
state". Free(Donations Welcome). Refreshments Available.
30th March - Kensington & Chelsea NO2ID stall
Friday, 30th March at Portobello Green. Campaign stall where we will also be
selling our NO2ID mugs (a bargain at £4 on the stall or Kensington & Chelsea
will also do mail order + £3 pp. - contact kensington@no2id.net for more info).
31st March & 1st April - Glasgow NO2ID stall
Saturday, 31st March & Sunday, 1st April - The NO2ID stall will be appearing in
Buchanan Street from 2pm onwards. Volunteers are always welcome.
2nd April - Highbury NO2ID March meeting(1st Monday of each month)
Monday, 2nd April 6.30 for a 7pm start at the Jorene Celeste pub, 153 Upper
Street, Islington. All welcome for an informal meeting to discuss forthcoming
events and related issues to NO2ID's campaign. All welcome. For further
information please contact Caroline - highbury@no2id.net
3rd April - Glasgow NO2ID meeting (and every other Tuesday thereafter)
Tuesday, 3rd April 8pm in Mono at 8pm. Note the slightly later time than
previous meetings.
1st Tuesday of the month - Hackney NO2ID monthly meetings (Next
Meeting: Tuesday 3rd April)
The Hackney local group covering London E8, E5, E9 & N16 areas meet on the first
Tuesday of each month at 7:30 in Cafe Bohemia by Hackney Central Station. New
support very welcome to help raise awareness over the coming months
7th April - NO2ID Cambridge Campaign stall
Cambridge NO2ID will be running Saturday street stalls outside Cambridge
Guildhall from 10am onwards on Saturday 7th April and Saturday 28th April.
Location Map: http://tinyurl.com/eo42r. Volunteers to help very welcome -
contact Andrew Watson via cambridge@no2id.net, or on 07710 469624.
19th May - NO2ID stall at Levellers' Day, Burford
Saturday, 19th May - Kensington & Chelsea NO2ID will have a stall in Burford
with the help of Swindon and other local groups.
2nd June - NO2ID Stall at Cambridge Strawberry Fair
Volunteers needed to man the stall for 2 hour shifts from 10am until 10pm:
please contact cambridge@no2id.net, or text/call Andrew Watson on 07710 469624.
We signed up 750 supporters last year - we'd like to double that number this
year. (Strawberry Fair info: http://www.strawberry-fair.org.uk)
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What just happened?
Glasgow ID Day protest
On Monday morning campaigners gathered outside the new Glasgow Interrogation
Centre to perform a terrorist act as part of the national ID Day protests. A
uniformed official (East German Border Guard, if you are wondering) interrogated
campaigners and passers-by and demanded that they jump through pointless
bureaucratic hoops before adding their details to the Stasi-like National
Identity Register and deciding whether to issue them with identity documents or
tag them as criminals. Among those interrogated were campaigners acting as an
old lady and a terrorist and some nearby clowns. Patrick Harvie MSP also turned
up to join in the fun. Reporters turned up from BBC radio and Real radio but
declined to be interrogated, instead insisting on interviewing us. A couple of
jolly policemen stood by while all this was happening but did not interfere -
even when the terrorist act was being performed! It was particularly gratifying
to have civil servants working inside the building come out to sign our petition.
Scripts for two of the acts are available on Indymedia:
http://scotland.indymedia.org/newswire/display/3913/index.php
Some photos from the day are available on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7507098@N02/sets/72157600028857139/
Edinburgh's ID Day robot protest
On ID Day Edinburgh NO2ID staged a two-hour demonstration outside Apex3, the
anonymous office block just to the west of the city centre which is to be the
site of the local ID interrogation centre. Eight members were dressed
eye-catchingly as barcoded robots in white hooded overalls with featureless
white masks. Other members held up the group's new placards or handed out
leaflets. The robots stood on both sides of the main A8 road, holding passports
and pointing out the IPS office particularly to passengers on buses stopping
nearby. Mark Ballard, MSP for the Green Party, also attended to lend support
while the two policemen detailed to watch the protest had a very easy time.
There was a gratifying response from a large number of passing drivers who
sounded their horns and gave the thumbs up sign; indeed there was 100% support
from the many refuse and recycling trucks going to a nearby depot. The only
negative comment was from a passerby who thought that ID cards would help stem
illegal immigration. The demonstration got good pre-publicity in the local press
and on BBC On-line. The Daily Record carried a photograph and a short report in
its printed version and there was coverage on two local radio stations.
Some photographs are at http://tinyurl.com/37bt6c.
Glasgow comedy gig
Hundreds of people gathered in the Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow last Saturday
evening to hear a fine selection of comedians performing for a NO2ID Comedy Gala
benefit. The event was a success - fun seems to have been had by all and we will
probably try something similar next year. Very special thanks must go to Tom and
Fraser of You Owe Me Glue who had the original idea for this event and did so
much to make it happen. Some photos from the comedy gala are available on
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=NO2ID&w=13326386%40N00
Brighton's ID Day
Around 150 people gathered in Brighton on Monday to protest against the
government’s ID cards scheme. The event, which was part of our ID Day national
day of action, was attended by several local councillors and a representative of
UNISON. Labour councillor Roy Pennington spoke at the event, as did candidates
for election Sue Bucknall (Lib Dem) and Martin Grimshaw (Green). All expressed
their opposition to the government’s plans.
ID Day in Leicester
Leicester NO2ID marked ID Day by distributing leaflets and getting signatures
for the national petition. The theme for their protest was 'Last day of freedom
in the UK'. Local co-ordinator Jon Cloke said: "We know that the government has
deliberately played this down, but even so the number of people who haven't even
heard of the ID card is quite worrying." Campaigners were also interviewed on a
local TV channel.
NO2ID gets cross party support in Tunbridge Wells
On Saturday 17th March Tunbridge Wells MP Greg Clark (Con) and several opposing
parliamentary candidates from the Greens, Lib Dems and UKIP all united against
the government ID scheme by publicly signing the NO2ID petition. You can see a
photo and details at Tunbridge Wells NO2ID new website:
http://www.tunbridgewells-no2id.org.uk/ . Tunbridge Wells NO2ID finally got an
article and letters in the local press too, after many attempts - but not on the
cross-party opposition!
Blair claims ID cards are "only" solution to secure borders
Tony Blair ramped up the fear and racism agenda this week when he claimed that
ID cards are the only solution to securing UK borders. Blair was speaking at a
seminar with biometric and immigration 'experts' as the government published yet
another new strategy, this time for securing the UK's borders. Blair stated:
"Once people are here, ID cards are the only way of tracking them inside the UK."
Royal Academy of Engineers enters the Surveillance State debate
This week the Royal Academy of Engineers produced a new report: 'Dilemmas of
Privacy and Surveillance - Challenges of Technological Change'. The report
warns: "The state should remain the ultimate protector of citizen rights to
privacy and should not garner new powers to invade the privacy or increase
surveillance without strong justification and the explicit consent of citizens.
The government of the day should only ever have temporary and revocable rights
to affect or suspend rights, and their powers should be challengeable in the
courts or by appeal to an ombudsman or similar agency."
Read the report at;
www.raeng.org.uk/policy/reports/pdf/dilemmas_of_privacy_and_surveillance_report.pdf
Frightening vision of the Big Brother State laid out in government policy review
This week the government released a policy review document entitled 'Building on
progress: Security, Crime and Justice report'. The report lays out a shockingly
authoritarian government agenda in which ID cards are presented as the centre
piece of their immigration strategy. The word privacy only appears once in the
105 page document just before they go on to say that "Citizens are asked to
accept the gathering of greater levels of information and intelligence in the
knowledge that this will facilitate improvements in public safety and law
enforcement". Compare this to the Royal Academy of Engineers report on the
surveillance state (detailed above) in which the word privacy appears 228 times.
Read the document at www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/policy_review/documents/bop_crime.pdf
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"ID" in the news
Reid tightens up UK visa rules - The Guardian 28/3/07
The UK is to expand its border controls so that three quarters of the world's
population will need biometric visas to visit the UK by the end of next year, it
was announced today.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,2044696,00.html
Children face criminal checks from the cradle - The Daily Telegraph 28/3/07
Checks will be made on all children to identify potential criminals under an
extension of the "surveillance state" announced by Tony Blair. Most crime is
committed by a small number of offenders who could be identified almost from
birth, ministers believe.
http://tinyurl.com/22q5yw
Barcode demo at ID office - Daily Record 27/3/07
Protesters dressed as barcoded robots to demonstrate against ID cards yesterday.
Dozens of campaigners gathered at Edinburgh's new passport interview centre to
protest against plans to keep personal records on file.
http://tinyurl.com/255gau
Blunkett is given job at identity card firm - The Observer 25/3/07
David Blunkett has taken a job advising a company interested in bidding to run
Britain's controversial identity cards programme, a policy he was the architect
of and championed in government.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/blunkett/story/0,,2042464,00.html
RFID and care records could be linked - E-health Insider 21/3/07
A future in which data from hospital systems, including the Care Records Service
(CRS), can be integrated with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags used to
<<>>track patients and equipment in hospitals was spelled out at Healthcare >Computing in Harrogate this week.
http://www.e-health-insider.com/news/item.cfm?ID=2557
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