The ID Cards Bill was defeated again in the Lords today. Their Lordships voted 186 – 142 (a majority of 44) to break the link with passports.
“The government lost again when peers called for a separate Act of Parliament before cards could be made compulsory.
The votes were among a series of Lib Dem and Tory amendments aimed at making sure people have a choice. “
Quite right too. Unfortunately our mendacious government is planning to sneak them in by the back door…
“The UK is to go ahead with a biometric-backed system of ID verification this year, whether or not the ID Cards Bill is passed by parliament. The ‘Plan B’, which is going ahead under the auspices of the Passport Office and which does not require parliamentary approval, was touched on by Home Office Minister Baroness Scotland during the recent House of Lords debate ID cards debate.
She described a new service, “passport validation, a commercial service that will come on stream in 2006,” which is an aspect of the Passport Service’s Personal Identification Project (PIP). The validation/verification service is referred to briefly in the organisation’s 2005-10 business plan, and is itself a sort of prototype for the ID card scheme.”
So there you go – if anyone is under the illusion that we live in a parliamentary democracy where government obeys the will of parliament; disabuse yourself of that notion immediately. The bunch of rabid control freaks in Wesminster have no intention of allowing little things like parliamentary votes to get in the way of their quest for power.
Hat tip to Devil’s Kitchen and Nosemonkey
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