|
Blair wants to leave his mark on
history - looks more like a stain to me.
Peter Thorndyke, Diss, Norfolk
- Daily Mail, May 23, 2005
I know I'm me - why do I need an
ID card?
"Sorry, officers, I don't have
an ID card. I never applied for one. It seemed a bit steep
at 300 quid. I do have my free passport, my driving licence
and my London freedom travel pass, each with my photograph.
I have my NHS medical card, with its lengthy number, given
me at birth, my RAF service book with my Armed Forces number,
and a chit authorising me to wear a few gongs -including
a General Service Medal with Malaya bar, for fighting communist
terrorists on behalf of my country, or so they told me.
"I've also got various credit cards and
store cards, all with my signature on the back, generally
good for buying the everyday requrements for life as well
as the odd luxury. If you decide to arrest me, I suppose
I'll have to be photographed and given another number, besides
my PINs.
"I'm afraid I haven't got a pension book;
it was taken away."
"By thieves, sir?"
"No ... well, not exactly. By the Government.
By the way, may I see your warrant cards please, gentlemen?"
Oh dear, they've disappeared. E. Harry Gumer,
Romford, ESSEX - Daily Mail, June 1, 2005
NO means NO
When does NO mean MAYBE?
When it's not the answer the EU wants. With the courageous French
NON resounding in their ears, shabby, undemocratic self-interested
leaders of Europe propose ignoring the part of their precious
constitution that requires ratification by all members and
continuing without one of the biggest founder members to
prevent derailing the gravy train.
As in Ireland, they refuse
to accept any NO votes, ignoring the will of the people,
and re-stage votes until they can engineer the 'correct'
answer. Sadly, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw dances to their
tune like a puppet on a string. With tactics such as these,
how can anyone really believe the EU has our interests at
heart. Letter from Steve Penny, Kingsnorth, Kent - Daily Mail, June1,
2005
Surely the French
result makes the £1million the EU recently spent on
a treaty signing ceremony seem a trifle premature and extravagant.
Letter from Keith Wiseman, Bury, Lancs. - Daily Mail, June1,
2005
|
Britain has traditionally
been one of the biggest net contributors to the EU because
we do not get as much money back from Brussels in farm
and regional subsidies as our rivals.
According to Treasury
figures, between 1995-2002, Britain's average contribution
taking the rebate into account, was £2.6billion,
or £43.55 per head of population.
The French - the biggest
recipient of farm subsidies - contributed £1billion
a year or £16.08 per head of their population.
|
|
Tony
Blair should know that respect comes by example - from the
top. If a country's leader has no respect for the rule of
international law and no respect for the truth, how can
he expect anyone to have respect. Letter
from P.J.Atkinson, Ashford, Kent - Daily Mail, January 12,
2006
The
Chancellor's single greatest act of vandalism in almost
nine years in office has been his wanton destruction of
Britain's private retirement industry. By slapping a massive
tax on pension funds, now worth
£7.3billion a year, he has helped to turn
the best private retirement industry in Europe into a basket-case
in perpetual crisis. Together with the adoption of European
accounting rules - which make it much riskier to operate
a company pension scheme - hundreds of firms have shut their
final salary plans to new employees and slashed benefits
to existing staff. From
Allister Heath: "I've seen the future and its grey"
in THE SPECTATOR - April 15, 2006
Nine
years ago the British people were sold a fantasy of clean
and competent government of principle and honesty. Its shiny
wrappings stripped away, the product now reveals its true
nature: Personal greed, arrogance, incompetence, shamelessness,
rash warmongering and an inability to accept - as is clear
to almost everyone else - that it is time to go. Editorial
- The Mail on Sunday, May 28, 2006
|
This
site has had 
visitors
CD
loss sends a chill down the spine
Letters
to The Guardian - November 23, 2007
From
Dr Michael Howard, Networking lecturer, University of Surrey
The
government is disingenuous in suggesting that biometric data will
protect information related to ID cards. The information to be
held in connection with the ID card scheme includes not only name,
address and biometric information, but also numbers for national
insurance, passport, driving licence and any other 'designation
document'. The latter could easily include information such as
a key to provide access to one's health data on the NHS spine.
Now that data laws say that 'information will normally be shared
in the public sector, provided it is in the public interest' (Home
Office insists biometric data is secure, November 21), there will
be people with access via the proposed identity database, through
these links, to any individual's tax, benefits, bank account,
travel, driving conviction and health records.
To
make it a criminal offence to reveal data makes no fundamental
difference. The fact that an individual has access to the information
means that it can be leaked, and the more people that have access
to the information the greater the probability that someone will
do so, whether maliciously or by accident.
The
proposed ID card scheme provides a massive potential leak of personal
information and should be stopped forthwith.
***********************************
From
Andrew Watson, Cambridge
An
incompetent civil servant who wrote the entire contents of the
ID card database on to CDs and then lost them would have lost
the fingerprints of the entire population. This would be a disaster.
If your bank account is compromised you can get a new one with
a new number. You can't get new fingerprints.
Ministers
assume the only way a fingerprint could enter the ID system is
if the ID card holder uses a fingerprint reader. However, compromised
readers could be used to inject fingerprint data directly into
the ID card system, allowing fraudsters to impersonate the holders
of the stolen biometrics.
***********************************
From
Mike Richards, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
The
security and reliability of biometrics are still matters of debate,
but in any case biometrics will not be needed by the tens of thousands
of government and private employees who will have access to the
national identity register. They will be able to access the database
using the same log-in procedures used by most computer users.
If the Revenue's shockingly incompetent security regime applies
elsewhere in government, there will be nothing to stop any employee
viewing or copying records from the NIR.
The
government has forfeited any right to be trusted with personal
data. It is not enough to say they will learn lessons. All planned
or current projects involving personal data must be put on hold
until independent audits show that they respect the rights of
the citizen.
***********************************
From
Val Harrison - Birmingham
In
view of the government's inability to guarantee the total security
of my, or anyone else's, personal data, I am writing to the prime
minister, the chancellor, the leaders of the Conservative and
the Liberal Democrat parties and also to my member of Parliament
to give notice that I shall refuse to have an ID card.
I
urge everyone to follow suit. The more fuss we make now, the less
likely this or any future government is to put our identities
at risk of fraudulent use.
***********************************
From
Chris Mills - Sevenoaks, Kent
There
is still time to stop the ID card system, but IT systems to monitor
all of England's children and their families are nearing completion
and contain highly confidential data. The ContactPoint system
tracks all children's contacts with health, welfare and other
agencies, and the eCaf system will contain detailed assessments
of children, parents and family life in case where services are
being sought.
The
government needs to face up to two facts. First, its IT systems
are unjustifiably intrusive. Second, it is an incompetent steward
of personal information. The most important lesson to be learned
from the blunders at Revenue and Customs is that systems like
ContactPoint and eCaf must be abandoned.
If you have suggestions
for additional subjects, or material to include in the pages linked
to the subjects listed, please contact the webmaster.
