The Home Office has said today that Manchester is being considered as a 'beacon area' for the introduction of ID cards, ie. it is to be one of the first places where mandatory ID cards will be introduced for British citizens.
In classic half truth style, the Home Office has said it is earmarking Manchester to be one of the 'first' places to see compulsory ID cards, whilst choosing to completely ignore the fact that these cards have been mandatory for many non EU immigrants since 25th Nov 2008.
If chosen, Manchester would become one of several 'beacon' areas, a word which the Home Office has presumably chosen to make at least someone feel that the great barcoded metropolises are leading the way into some sort of bright and shiny future.
The original brief article is here at yahoo news:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20090129/tuk-manchester-first-for-identity-cards-dba1618.html
Comments
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not in my city
29.01.2009 13:06
ballz
The Term Beacon
29.01.2009 14:17
If Manchester is to be used as "Beacon" then it means that much of the infrastructure is in place to do, broadly, what is intended to be done with ID cards. Activists could do much worse than critically examine the changes in policing, welfare benefits and other relevant public services in the next few months.
Not a project management consultant
Manchester Is Ready
30.01.2009 10:55
Manchester NO2ID Logo
We've got a street stall in St. Ann's Square on Saturday 14th February from 2pm to 4pm, and our next meeting is in the Town Hall Tavern on Wednesday 18th February from 7pm to 9pm. Full details, along with our Facebook and mailing list links, at
Dave Page
e-mail:
manchester@no2id.net
Homepage:
http://manchester.no2id.net/