Blair’s speech in Manchester - Extract
In what looks to be the beginning of the end in terms of Tony Blair’s farewell, the PM has touched on the government’s society, human rights and foreign policy. Here’s the juice:
I don’t want to live in a police state, or a Big Brother society or put any of our essential freedoms in jeopardy. But because our idea of liberty is not keeping pace with change in reality, those freedoms are in jeopardy … we can only protect liberty by making it relevant to the modern world. That is why identity cards using biometric technology are not a breach of our basic rights, they are an essential part of responding to the reality of modern migration and protecting us against identity fraud …
In the next parliamentary session, the centrepiece will be John Reid’s immigration and law and order reforms. I ask people of all parties to support them. Let liberty at last stand up for the law-abiding citizens in this country.
The new anxiety is the global struggle against terrorism without mercy or limit. This is a struggle that will last a generation and more. But this I believe passionately: we will not win until we shake ourselves free of the wretched capitulation to the propaganda of the enemy, that somehow we are the ones responsible …
If we retreat now, hand Iraq over to al-Qaida and sectarian death squads and Afghanistan back to al-Qaida and the Taliban, we won’t be safer; we will be committing a craven act of surrender that will put our future security in the deepest peril … [source]
Similarly timed was an advert in the Guardian depicting Tony Blair as a Hitler, labelled with a barcode above his lip. I was pretty disgusted to see this kind of reference. The tagline was, “id cards have worked well in Europe before.”
The pressure group, No2ID, claim the government’s ID scheme will “choke” practical freedoms, with the simplest things in life “no longer under your control.” Now, how does carrying a new form of identification suddenly turn you into a caged animal? Everyone should be free to do what they like. Why are background checks manditory on school workers? That’s an invasion of their privacy. But I bet No2ID supporters would be a little miffed at a pedophile teaching their 9 year old son about what makes babies. They seem all for making life easy for terrorist organisations in our country, though. I would be interested to know two things - 1) the average age of the no2id supporter and 2) the number of no2id supporters who have fallen victim to identity theft or experienced the threat of terror first hand.
How does biometrics constitute a new level of privacy invasion? The photograph on my passport is a physical identifier. I am not scared that other identifiers that are slightly more technical may be used. Bring on the ID card, because I have nothing to hide.