Mayoral Candidates reject surveillance by Transport for London
9 April 2008
For immediate release, 9/4/08
The platform at NO2ID's mayoral hustings [1] last night was unanimous: Oyster card and Congestion Charge data should not be used for any other purposes than collecting fares or charges without a warrant. Boris Johnson, Brian Paddick, Gerard Batten, Jenny Jones and Lindsey German were united in calling for a change in the current practice, where details of passenger and driver movements are disclosed on request to the DVLA, police and certain other government agencies [2].
The unpopularity [3] of the National Identity Scheme was clearly illustrated by uniform condemnation from the platform of ID cards and particularly the National Identity Register, the database behind the cards.
NO2ID's mayoral hustings last night was attended by all parties with London representation at Westminster, in Strasbourg or in the GLA, except the Labour Party. Siân Berry (Green) sent Jenny Jones to represent her on the night, but – given every opportunity – the current Mayor declined to attend [4] and failed either to send a representative or give any response to NO2ID's questions, which were sent in advance to all invitees.
Commenting on the candidates' positions, Phil Booth, NO2ID's national coordinator, said:
"The relentless expansion of the database state into every aspect of our daily lives threatens privacy, personal security and even the presumption of innocence. What the government calls 'data sharing' is, in many cases, search without warrant.
"Londoners are among the most watched people on earth. It is hugely encouraging that the majority of those running for London mayor recognise this, and have committed to reversing the tide of mass surveillance."
-ENDS-
Notes for editors
1) NO2ID is the UK-wide non-partisan campaign against ID cards and the database state. See
http://www.no2id.net/dbstate.php for a list of 'database
state' initiatives that NO2ID is actively opposing. The hustings were held at Friends House, Euston Road from 7pm.
2) Currently police make more than 3,000 requests a year for Oyster travel details and this is sharply increasing:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23440524-details/Police+make+3,000+requests+for+data+from+Oyster+cards/article.do
They have been given real-time access to Congestion Charge data for anti-terrorism purposes already:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6902543.stm
However, such information can be requested on an ad hoc basis without a warrant.
3) The last 4 independent polls NO2ID has seen show that more people oppose ID cards than want them:
Populus poll for the Times, 21/11/07 - 55% "drop ID cards", 29% "go ahead with ID cards":
http://www.populuslimited.com/uploads/download_pdf-211107-The-Times-Britains-Economy.pdf
BPIX poll for the Mail on Sunday, 25/11/08 - 46 % opposed to ID cards, 43% in favour:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=496237&in_page_id=1770
YouGov poll for the Telegraph, 3/12/07 – 48% against ID cards, 43% in favour:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/03/nidcards103.xml
ICM poll for the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Ltd, 6/2/08 - 50% "bad idea", 47% "good idea":
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/feb/06/politics.idcards
4) Both Boris Johnson and Brian Paddick went directly from NO2ID's hustings to Newsnight's televised debate with Ken Livingstone later that evening.
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For more information, or for immediate or future interview, please contact Phil Booth (National Coordinator,
national.coordinator@no2id.net) on 07974
230 839, Guy Herbert (General Secretary,
general.secretary@no2id.net) on 07956 544 308, or Michael Parker (Press Officer,
press.officer@no2id.net) on
07773 376 166.
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