Problems with Identity
They’ve been looking for an excuse for some time, and the terrorist attacks in America have given them just this. It seems very likely that, perhaps in little more than a year from now, British citizens will be required by law to carry personal identity cards at all times. This is one stage of the drive against ‘international terrorism,’ and, as part of the softening-up process, the public has been warned that it cannot expect greater security against terrorists without sacrificing a few civil liberties on the way.
What information will these cards contain? Most commentators assume that they will bear the holder’s personal details (name, birth date, place of birth) details of registration (date of issue, renewal etc.) and indication of nationality. These are little different from the details you would find on a driving license. More worryingly, identity cards will also contain private details (financial, health and ‘other’ information) as well as proof of identity, probably in the form of a microchip bearing fingerprints or maybe DNA codes. Citizens will be expected to carry this ID at all times, and the police will have stop-and-search powers to demand it from anyone they choose. Failure to produce a card will result in a fine or potentially, some say, a jail sentence.
A recent poll shows that 80-90% of the public support the idea. And clearly, in the wake of the horror of the World Trade Centre attack, these cards seem a very minor issue, a small price to pay for greater security against terrorist activity. Many people claim that “those with nothing to hide have nothing to fear,” and label opposition as merely left-wing conspiracy-theory hysteria. However, civil rights groups, journalists and many politicians are expressing concern over the plans.
Personally, I’m worried about these ID proposals for several reasons. First, the idea conjures up the inevitable images of police states, the over-used clich? of Big Brother surveillance (Britain has more CCTV cameras per head of population than any other country in the world), and all the associated paranoia about the much-mistrusted Establishment.
Secondly, there’s a more practical reason why I don’t support the scheme. Quite simply, it isn’t going to work. Would the destruction of the twin towers have been avoided if every American citizen was carrying an ID card? No. The terrorists responsible had lived in the US for a number of years, and so would have been issued with cards themselves, proving themselves legitimate citizens of the Free World and therefore beyond suspicion. And if they had been foreign visitors to the States, they would have entered the country as tourists or temporary workers, and so wouldn’t be expected to carry such cards in the first place. The compulsory introduction of ID cards will have no practical use at all. It certainly won’t do anything to deter people as determined as the ones who committed suicide and mass murder with those planes. At best, the whole scheme is a token, a placebo, designed to reassure a nervous population that something is being done, action is being taken, while having absolutely no positive role in this so-called war our government is fighting.
And at worst, the scheme is open to abuse by police officers with prejudices and personal agendas to follow (the force was branded ‘institutionally racist’ following the Stephen Lawrence case). It provides the police with a perfect way of logging the details of members of dissident groups, whether these groups are terrorist or not (and don’t forget that the very meaning of ‘terrorist’ is controlled by those in power: many environmental and animal rights’ campaigners have already been labelled as such). ID cards will hugely extend the state’s control over our private lives. Police will have the right to demand the intimate details of any individual they single out on the street, and they can base this demand purely on that individual’s appearance. The potential for increased repression of minorities - whether political dissidents, gays, blacks, Asians or social non-conformists - is huge. We have already seen a massive increase in security cameras, the implementation of the Terrorist Bill (itself an erosion of civil liberties), a rise in the number of police shootings, draconian measures in London on May Day, and the right to take, by force if necessary, a DNA sample from any suspect in custody. Add to this Tony Blair’s outright support for the fascist brutality of the police in Genoa, plus highly disturbing proposals to equip officers with electrified ‘taser’ guns, and the image of a liberal society with an accountable police force quickly starts to lose credibility. The opposition to yet more ’security measures’ appears to be founded in more than just conspiracy paranoia.
Around the world, protests about globalisation and corporate domination are growing. Anti-capitalists, socialists, environmental and peace campaigners, trade unionists, human rights and civil liberties groups are coming to the streets in force, demanding radical change to the injustices that become clearer and clearer by the day. This cannot happen without a reaction from those in power, and from the institutions employed to keep them there. The ID card scheme is not an effective defence against terrorist attack, and nor is it intended to be. It is a poorly-veiled attempt to impose stricter control over the population, to assert the legitimacy of an authority that fears itself being undermined by criticism and public protest. Make no mistake, we should all increase our vigilance and awareness of international terrorism. But this must be expanded to include the terrorist activity being perpetrated every day against innocent people in Palestine, Iraq, Columbia - and soon, it seems, Afghanistan - with the full support, or direct involvement, of the United States and Britain themselves.
If these ID plans really do come to fruition - and it seems that they will - we’ll be receiving our cards sooner rather than later. I don’t know about anyone else, but I intend to leave mine in a drawer at home and forget about it. Or maybe coat it in gravy and slip it to a hungry dog. Or maybe cut it up for plectrums and give them to my guitar-playing friends. These are far more useful things to do with a rectangular bit of plastic.