NO2ID

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Conference
2005 National Delegate Conference
Date
28 February 2005
Decision
Carried as Amended

Conference calls upon the government to immediately cease all further development of, and legislation for, national identity cards and the National Identity Register. Conference further welcomes the decision of the Scottish Executive not to make ID cards compulsory for accessing devolved public services.

We believe the proposals constitute an attack on individual rights and freedoms. We believe they will lead to institutional discrimination and to unfair and unlawful denial of benefits and services. The central database will be controlled by government and capable of being expanded, and access to information granted to whosoever the government desires, such as medical records to insurance companies and employers.

We believe the proposals will lead to an increase in state control and surveillance over the individual, and that they will create an unacceptable imposition on every citizen. We believe the proposals are unlawful under the principles of the European Convention on Human Rights that guarantee every person the fundamental right to privacy.

We further believe the identity proposals will lead to an endemic loss of privacy and freedoms. We believe they will present dangers to marginalised, disenfranchised and disadvantaged people, encouraging greater institutional racism and scapegoating. We also believe that an identity scheme will imperil the relations between citizen and state.

Furthermore, we believe that even if these principled concerns had been fully addressed, the government’s proposals would still constitute an enormous waste of financial resources, with initial costs estimated at between £3,000,000,000 and £6,000,000,000 and would achieve little or no tangible benefits for ordinary working people.

For these reasons we urge the government to fully abandon the proposals.

Conference resolves to support the NO2ID campaign and circulate campaign information, the website www.no2id.net, and the petition to branches.