Stop the Database State

MANCHESTER DEMONSTRATION AT ID CARD ENROLMENT CENTRE

Manchester NO2ID Press Release
Date: 27th November 2009
For immediate release

Manchester NO2ID and other groups who oppose the National Identity Scheme are holding a protest at the Identity and Passport Service "enrolment centre" at Westminster House on Portland Street, at 1pm on Monday 30th November 2009.

On the first day that Mancunians can register to be trapped for life on the National Identity Register, opponents of the scheme will be spreading a simple message - "Don't be a Guinea Pig! Stop the ID Card Con!". NO2ID claim that the Government are not giving the public the full picture about the scheme, comparing it to proof-of-age cards and the ID schemes in place on the continent.

Manchester NO2ID co-ordinator Dave Page said, "Registering for a National Identity Card is a mistake. It compels you to a lifetime of being tracked on the largest Government database this country has ever seen, and puts your personal information at the hands of hundreds of thousands of faceless Government and corporate workers.

"The Government have admitted they can't keep the National Identity Register safe from hackers, fraudsters and corrupt insiders. The public don't want this dodgy scheme, and the Government should admit defeat and give up before even more money is squandered."

The protest comes shortly after a Manchester Evening News poll found 96% of respondents opposed to the scheme [1], and it was revealed that the ID scheme is costing the taxpayer £230,000 every day [2].

[1] http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/24/home_office_id_loss/

[2] http://www.publicservice.co.uk/news_story.asp?id=11266

ENDS

For more information or interview, please contact James Elsdon-Baker, North of England co-ordinator on north@no2id net or 07817 695 162. You can also contact Dave Page, NO2ID's Manchester co-ordinator, on manchester@no2id.net or 07722 615 398.

NO2ID's "Don't be a Guinea Pig" campaign to discourage people from volunteering for the National Identity Scheme without reading the small print is at http://idcardcon.org/

NO2ID is the UK-wide non-partisan campaign against ID cards and the database state. Scroll down http://www.no2id.net for a list of 'database state' initiatives that NO2ID is actively opposing.