All for your own good

I've talked about National Identity Cards and the accompanying central database here before. Amongst the many erosions of personal liberty enacted by this government, this is surely the worst, and it enrages me. The given reasons for the card and the database's introduction seem to change with the weather - terrorism, ID fraud, security, efficiency, or simply because other countries are apparently doing it. Actually, none of them are doing it on this scale.

The government wants - demands, actually - your name, fingerprints and at least fifty other pieces of personal information about you on the biggest centralised database the world has ever seen. This is bad enough, but you can bet your life that the database will be extended once it exists. 'Orwellian' is a word that's bandied around far too much, but in this case it's starting to look apposite.

The excellent No2ID have been fighting this pernicious scheme since its inception, and they have outlined various ways in which you can avoid, for as long as possible, getting your name and details on this database. They include:

Renew your passport now. From next month, people applying for a new passport will have to attend interviews and have their details collected for the beginnings of the database. I've already renewed mine, which means I won't have to do this for 10 years. With any luck, by then this mad scheme will be dead and buried.

Write to your MP and tell them to vote against this sinister nonsense.

Sign this petition.

Vote Conservative. Oops, sorry - that one just slipped out. To be honest though, I am so depressed about the situation that it has crossed my mind once or twice. The Tories, you see, oppose ID cards - for now, anyway. It's unlikely that I would be driven to such desperate measures, but I suppose anything is possible.

Take your photograph!This one is quite fun, actually. Next Monday, 26th March, is the day that the first of the new ID interrogation centres opens. No2ID are dubbing it 'ID-Day' and are organising demonstrations across the country. They want you to text a photograph of your face, with which they will make up a massive collage of those who resist the scheme: those who are faces, not numbers. I've already sent them mine, which should put them off their breakfast. If you value your liberty, I suggest you get snapping.