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February 26, 2005
Holyrood rejects ID cards
Holyrood have voted against ID cards with the SNP, the Conservatives and the Greens opposed, and the Liberal Democrats abstaining. The vote was 52 to 47.
The motion was: That the Parliament notes the Identity Cards Bill currently being considered by the Westminster Parliament; is concerned at the lack of time devoted to the scrutiny of this Bill, which has left important questions unanswered over how the identity card scheme will work in practice; believes the proposals to be flawed on political, technical and financial grounds; is concerned that the national identity card and database offer an ineffective response to problems of security and fraud and pose an unacceptable threat to civil liberties; notes that the current cost estimate for the scheme is £5.5 billion and that further escalation of this cost is expected; rejects the Prime Minister’s belief, stated on 1 December 2004 in the House of Commons, that “it is legitimate and right, in this day and age, to ask people to carry identity cards” which appears to go far beyond the current scope of the Bill and would require the consent of the Scottish Parliament; welcomes the Scottish Executive’s position that identity cards will not be required to allow access to devolved public services, and calls on the Executive to make a full statement on the intended use of the identity database by devolved institutions.
The Identity Cards Bill is about to be considered by the Lords in Westminster, but with the election coming the bill may eventually be abandoned. If the measure is re-introduced later, I suppose there is a chance it may be improved providing someone in the Home Office takes the trouble to research the technical issues involved. The Holyrood vote is a gesture - maybe not an insignificant one?
Footnote: It’s a pain searching for the debate and the vote on the Scottish Parliament website - really inferior to the Westminster ‘They Work For You’ site.
news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=428&id=213172005
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4292893.stm
www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-05/sor0224-02.htm#Col14711
Posted by Simon Holledge at February 26, 2005 10:24 AM
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