Stop the Database State

Thanks again to Helen for taking and typing up minutes; apologies for posting them so late.

Manchester NO2ID meeting, Wednesday 13th May 2009, 7pm-9pm at the Town Hall Tavern, Tib Lane, Manchester.

Summary of Actions

ACTION: Paul to find out whether Manchester NO2ID may attend Manchester Airport "awareness event".

ACTION: Paul to arrange a meeting between Dave Page, Christina Zaba, the local IPS, the local airport unions, UNISON, and UNITE; and to establish communications between these parties.

ACTION: Paul to email Manchester Airport by-laws to the email list.

ACTION: Dave to upload airport flyer to website, when details of events have been confirmed.

ACTION: Helen to liaise with Sarah regarding the Women’s Institute.

ACTION: Helen to attend local campaigning meeting at The Mule.

Apologies from our Co-ordinator, Dave Page, who was unable to attend due to personal commitments. Thank you to Tom and Matt for chairing the meeting.

The contents of the recent national NO2ID newsletters were discussed, and the minutes of the last meeting (15th April 2009) were approved.

May Street Stall

The weather was on our side again, with extreme winds and low temperatures. In our experience, more and more members of the public seem to oppose the ID scheme each month. However, the citizens of Manchester seemed not to be as aware of ID cards being trialed in their home city as we’d hoped, despite the extensive local publicity regarding the issue last week. Thank you to everyone who helped out.

Mark Thomas Comedy Show in Manchester

Mark Thomas, the legendary stand-up comedian and political activist, is performing his show “It’s the Stupid Economy!” at the Dancehouse, Oxford Rd, Manchester for three nights in early June (Tuesday 2nd – Thursday 4th inclusive). Mark has kindly invited Manchester NO2ID to run a stall and take part in the show. Dave has set up a Doodle poll for anyone who wishes to volunteer for these evenings.

Mark Thomas Comedy Show in Warrington

On Fri 1st May Mark Thomas’s show "It’s the Stupid Economy" took place in Warrington. Mark kindly invited volunteers from Manchester NO2ID to help out. Thank you to Tom, Rachel and everyone else who helped out.

Manchester Airport

Dave is waiting to hear from Christina Zaba, NO2ID’s Union Liaison Officer, for details of what we should do next.

The local airport unions are unsure what to do next, and have been trying to liaise with representatives from the local branch of the Identity and Passport Service (IPS). If we are to communicate with airport workers via the unions (e.g. with leaflets), the unions need to approve the NO2ID literature first.

Manchester Airport is holding an "awareness event" in July (details tbc).

ACTION: Paul to find out whether Manchester NO2ID may attend this.

ACTION: Paul to arrange a meeting between Dave Page, Christina Zaba, the local IPS, the local airport unions, UNISON, and UNITE; and to establish communications between these parties.

ACTION: Paul to email Manchester Airport by-laws to the email list.

ACTION: Dave to upload airport flyer to website, when details of events have been confirmed.

Students Against ID (SAID)

The SAID Annual General Meeting is to take place on Monday, 18th May 2009, 7pm at Jabez Clegg, Dover St, Manchester. Agenda items include: elect next year’s committee; reflect on activities of the past year; and focus on what we as a society wish to achieve in the next academic year. Reminder: Manchester students will be among the first to "require" and "trial" ID cards.

Any Other Business

ACTION: Helen to liaise with Sarah regarding the Women's Institute.

There has been possible interest in forming local NO2ID groups in Lancaster and Warrington. Liverpool NO2ID has not been very active as late, but Liverpool Defy-ID has been hard at work.

There is a campaigning meeting tomorrow (Thursday 14th May) for a collective of local groups who wish to campaign against the introduction of ID cards in Manchester. Tim Hunt of The Mule has invited Manchester NO2ID – and any other interested parties - to the meeting. We stressed that a NO2ID group can only get involved if the campaign is single-issue (against the ID scheme and the database state) and non-partisan.

ACTION: Helen to attend local campaigning meeting at The Mule.

We are still concerned that RFID technology (particularly on passports and the new contactless Barclaycards) poses an identity theft risk.

Possible "conflict of interest" issues have been discussed.

Upcoming Events

Collective local anti-ID campaigning meeting, Thursday 14th May 2009, The Mule offices, Cambridge St, Manchester.

SAID AGM, Monday 18th May 2009, 7pm, Jabez Clegg, Dover St, off Oxford Rd, Manchester.

Mark Thomas Comedy Show, Tuesday 2nd June – Thursday 4th June 2009.

Street Stall, Saturday 13th June 2009, 2pm-4pm, St Ann’s Square, Manchester.

Monthly Meeting, Wednesday 17th June 2009, 7pm-9pm, Town Hall Tavern, Manchester.