Are you referring to this?  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7280495.stm

Quite apart from the fact that the main danger of the scheme is being tracked on a national database, not being made to have a card, which does not go away if passport is used instead of an actual card, the government announcement makes it clear that some British subjects will be made to have cards, and students will also be targetted.

Also - whatever the rhetoric, the ID Cards Act still exists that allows the present (or any future) govermment to issue ID cards with passports. Plus, the state has been advised to introduce its ID scheme step-by-step, so they are bound to say things that make the majority people think they are not immediately affected.

This "U-turn" means very little practically, as the previous policy did not in fact require Britons to have ID cards. You would only have been fingerprinted / retina scanned, and be put on the National Identity Register if you applied for a passport. (In other words, once your current passport expired, you wouldn't be able to to leave the country unless you were on the Register.) Foreign nationals however, would have been required to have a National Identity Card by the end of this year. You would not have been required to carry the Identity Card around with you, even once you got it.

Let's contrast this with what has been announced today, shall we?

1) You will still be required to have your biometrics taken if applying for a passport. (Therefore, you will still not be able to leave the country unless you have your data taken.)

2) Your biometric data will still be put on the National Identity Register.

3) Foreign nationals will still be required to have a National Identity Card by the end of this year.

4) Some individuals WILL now have to carry Identity Cards with them, if they work in "sensitive" areas such as airports and ports. (It is interesting to note how easily this logic could be extended to requiring ID cards for entry into the SOCPA zone in London, or when approaching other areas mentioned in that Act. Such as military bases, and nuclear facilities.)

So, where is the "U-turn," in all reality? The only real difference is that those of us who apply for passports will only be required to have ONE piece of biometric identification, instead of also having a second, entirely redundant one. The effective travel restrictions remind me of nothing so much as the policies of the USSR.

As stated in the comment above, the danger was never in the ID cards themselves. Rather, the frightening thing is the idea of the state having the fingerprints / retina scans / god-knows-what-else of EVERYONE who wishes to enjoy the right to travel on a single database, regardless of whether any of those people have committed any crimes. Not to mention the governments terrifying recent record of handling the personal data of citizens!

The piece on disabling the RFID chip has been moved. All I can find is a piece on disabling the chip in American passports. This doesn't give any information on the legal status of a British passport with disabled chip, what I want to know is the British passport still valid with a disabled RFID? (I shouldn't think ppl would be too happy if they got into trouble with the authorities for disabling their RFID).

Re the suggestion of hitting the passport chip with a hammer.
I'm sure this will disable the chip.

But I'm sure it will cause you nightmare hassles at the border.
They may think the passport is a fake and keep you there for hours on end...hassle,hassle,hassle!!!

i think the point of the disabling your RFID chip with a hammer is that the authorities cannot tell it was done deliberately as it is not visibly damaged-unlike other methods of disabling it.

as for being hassled-the point is that if you suspect you will be hassled anyway because of what might be on the chip (your movements from or through through various unacceptable places) you might as well withhold that information by appearing to have a faulty chip in your passport

I am a 'UK Citizen'. Two years ago when I got sent a RF ID passport after I had 'lost' the previous one I smashed the chip immediately. I have travelled widely abroad within and also outside of the EU. I have had no real problems but some interesting incidents, and so I recommend you smash your chip right now if you have one. I spoke to several airport staff who told me that when you leave the UK it is NOT scanned at present, it is only scanned when you enter the country. When entering and challenged by Border officials depending on my mood I either tell them that the passports are shit and badly made - 'if they are so easy to break they should not be issued to the general public', then tell them 'yes of course i will pay £90 to get a new one when i leave the airport', and they let me go, or I simply tell them that i smashed the chip, don't want their control technology and refuse to admit i have done anything 'wrong', "fuck the government and fuck their terrorists".

You have to expect to be treated like anyone else who is 'without papers' and it has been an educational experience. Questioned by scum bag border staff and questioned by pigs about being an 'extremist' to which i replied that if 'anti-war' activists are extremists then what does that make the filth who drop bombs on innocent people from a mile in the sky.

The border staff told me I would never get into USA, but fuck the USA.

I have travelled several times to Japan with no problems on my broken RFID passport.

Just fucking smash it, or expose it to a strong magnet as this doesn't leave a trace of obvious damage and you can change your story as you like to.