Sunday, January 02, 2011
Labour's ID card trial fiasco
Now that the UK Coalition Government has quite rightly fulfilled its promise to abolish ID cards details are now emerging of the fiasco that was the trial that Labour ran in Greater Manchester.
According to the Manchester Evening News, civil servants were urged to sign up their own families for ID cards in an effort to stop the controversial scheme flopping. They say:
By April this year, only 15 per cent of airside workers had enrolled for a card.
Reports reveal how the airport took the unusual step of appointing a full-time ‘National Identity Card Administrator’ to drive up demand and considered a competition to promote the scheme.
The report also said: “One participant complained that the identity card interfered with other cards kept in the same wallet.”
Considering that the Government spent £292m on the ID card scheme before it was finally axed, this is a major failure. It seems that people did not just reject Labour in May, they also rejected their flagship scheme, their control freakery and their assault on individual liberties.
According to the Manchester Evening News, civil servants were urged to sign up their own families for ID cards in an effort to stop the controversial scheme flopping. They say:
- Senior Whitehall officials were urged to email friends and relatives encouraging them to buy cards because of fears about the level of demand;
- UK and overseas border guards refused to recognise the cards – with one traveller chased through an Italian airport after trying to use one as ID;
- The Home Office discovered the cards could stop some credit cards from working properly.
By April this year, only 15 per cent of airside workers had enrolled for a card.
Reports reveal how the airport took the unusual step of appointing a full-time ‘National Identity Card Administrator’ to drive up demand and considered a competition to promote the scheme.
The report also said: “One participant complained that the identity card interfered with other cards kept in the same wallet.”
Considering that the Government spent £292m on the ID card scheme before it was finally axed, this is a major failure. It seems that people did not just reject Labour in May, they also rejected their flagship scheme, their control freakery and their assault on individual liberties.
Labels: ID
