Just Say 'No'

That incompetent fool, David Blunkett will have the bill for ID cards in four weeks. Apparently he's won over those who disagree. Well, he hasn't won me over.
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In my opinion, this looks like taking advantage of a situation. Madrid, and the plot in the UK don't make me think that ID cards will fix it. I mean, how's a UK ID card going to help Spain? Will the terrorists have to show each other their ID cards when they swap goods and knowledge? I think probably not.

This reminds me a bit of something that happened in Banff just a few weeks ago. Banff is about the safest place in the world. There are quite a few drunk people knocking about at 2am, and it does get a bit careless, but it's not dangerous.

Anyway, a few weeks back, some bloke had the living sh*t kicked out of him by "a gang of youths". The victim dropped all co-operation with the mounties, because he didn't want it pursued. The people of Banff were evidently a bit worried about it.

Shortly afterwards, CCTV cameras were proposed in the centre of the town. The justification was "public safety", with the specific example of the chap being beaten up used to add weight to that justification. Sound okay to you? I mean, what if you get beaten up like that?

Well, it turns out that the chappy in question had punched a girl in the face, and was going in for more. A group of lads driving by decided a bit of public justice was in order and beat him up.

So, Banff is actually a suprisingly safe place. If you get into trouble, it's not just the mounties that will help you out - ordinary people will too.

Guildford (in Surrey) is an enormously over-policed town. They have cameras all over the place. Some of the bars are really dangerous. People will start fights knowing that it's never going to get to any real danger, because the police will cart everyone off to the cells before too long. So, you can get your lucky punch in, spend the night in the cells and go home nice and safe.

Anyway, ID cards - they're not going to protect you from anything. They will, however, tell 'the powers that be' everything they might possibly want to know about you. You won't get a choice as to when they look at that stuff, and as a result, you lose a significant chunk of your liberty (not to mention your tax money).

Just say no, kids - it's the only safe thing to do.