Bridget Fox condemns latest extension of ID card database

1.44.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 10th Jul 2009

Bridget Fox, leading anti-ID card campaigner and supporter of NO2ID, has condemned the Government's vote to bring in the next stage of the ID card scheme.

Bridget, who is also Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Islington South & Finsbury, has pledged to oppose ID cards and the massive database needed to implement them. Liberal Democrats have long opposed the ID card scheme, and every Lib Dem MP is committed to scrapping it.

The latest vote was a crucial stage in the legislation, bringing in a 'Provision of Information without Consent' regulation, giving the Passport and Information Service powers to share personal information with a host of other agencies without an individual's consent.

Bridget Fox says, "The Government's position is contradictory and misleading. First Alan Johnson said that ID cards would not be compulsory, then he said that the whole scheme would be accelerated. While spin doctors try to convince us that ID cards have been dropped, the truth is that the Government is still pushing them.

"By forcing through yet more ID card legislation, the Government has shown again how out of touch they are. ID cards are expensive, intrusive and do nothing to make us safer. It's time to say no to ID."

Last week, opposition MPs united to table a parliamentary debate calling for the ID card scheme to be scrapped. The issue has divided Islington Labour party. Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn voted with the Liberal Democrats to oppose ID cards; but Labour loyalist Emily Thornberry, the MP for Islington South and Finsbury, lined up with the Government whips and voted in favour of ID cards.

Related Links:

ID Cards vote (ThePublicWhip).

No to ID Cards.