Published on 25 April 2004.
I can’t see how this can be the case. Why will an illegal immigrant find it any more difficult to ‘disappear’? They don’t have any identification documents at the moment, so why will not having a card hinder them? Unless, of course, we’re going to be forced to produce them at request, which is a dangerous route to take.
Most employers who have illegal workers know that the workers are illegal. Besides which, we all have National Insurance numbers that can (and do) do this anyway.
If I’m going to fly a jumbo into a towerblock, why will a plastic card stop me? The Spanish have identity cards, and they’ve suffered one of the worst terrorist attacks of modern times.
This depends very much on how they are used, and if they are used as I suspect, as a single identity document in themselves, then stealing this card immediately opens you to identity theft. Biometric data is only useful for those who have readers, and photographs don’t prevent someone passing themselves off as someone else, as we see with stolen Passports every day.
Tell me this is a joke. If I was racist, I would still be racist whether or not the other person had a card.
I do understand that they would be a handy form of ID, but that’s an argument against them. When you have to provide two forms of photo ID, it’s hard to find them, you have to go searching to dig out your passport and driving licence (or similar). If you have this card on you all the time, and your Driving Licence, then there’s two forms of photo ID that are stolen right off the bat if your bag is stolen.
The whole point of this ID process is that it’s difficult for the real person, and so almost impossible for a fraudster.
So why ask us all to pay £35 for a card that is pointless?
This 84th post was filed under: News and Comment, Politics.
Trackback received at 00:38 on 6th February 2007.
Comment posted at 23:50 on 29th January 2008.