NEWS RELEASE - No2ID reaches 10,000 pledge target

Posted on July 19, 2005

GREEN MSP MEDIA RELEASE

For immediate release, Tuesday 19 July, 2005

OPPOSITION TO ID CARDS GROWING: 10,000 SIGN NO2ID PLEDGE
- more urged to fight the “staggering arrogance” of New Labour’s project

Over 10,000 people have now registered their opposition to ID cards with the campaign group No2ID, signalling the growing momentum against a “draconian and costly” project that Green MSPs claim “is doomed to fail”. (1)

No2ID appealed for 10,000 signatures by October 9 2005, and for each signatory to pledge £10 towards a legal defence fund. Achieving the target months ahead of schedule indicates the growing scepticism and unease with the proposals.

Urging Scots to continue to sign the No2ID pledge, Green MSP Patrick Harvie, said, “Tony Blair started this term of government claiming that he had listened to the people of Britain – yet the growing opposition to the ID card scheme and the national identity register, including a vote in the Scottish Parliament, has so far fallen on deaf ears.

“Just last month we had an academic report, which the UK government unsuccessfully tried to discredit, highlighting the uncertainties of the scheme and warning that costs could well spiral up to £19 billion. There are huge question marks over the effectiveness of the scheme to prevent crime and fraud, and impact it will have on privacy and civil liberties.

“That citizens will be asked to fork out hundreds of pounds for the privilege of this unnecessary and costly infringement on their basic rights, really does show the staggering arrogance of New Labour. ID cards and the register are doomed to fail and I hope people will continue to sign the pledge and let their views be known.”

In February of this year, Green MSPs led a vote in the Scottish Parliament noting concerns about the scheme and calling for a ministerial statement on the national identity register. (3) Tom McCabe finally delivered a statement last month but notably failed to address the issue of the register, instead devoting half the statement to other initiatives unrelated to the ID Cards Bill.

ENDS

For further information call the Green MSP press office on 0771 761 8771.

Notes

1. No2ID are still calling for people to join their original pledge, and have also launched another for people who support their aims but are for any reason unable to risk breaking the law to resist ID cards. See www.pledgebank.com/refuse and www.no2id.net

Motion lodged today in Parliament by Patrick Harvie MSP:

That the Parliament congratulates No2ID campaigners for achieving their target of 10,000 pledges of support from people who state that “they will refuse to register for an ID card and will donate £10 to a legal defence fund if 10,000 other people will also make the same pledge”; recognises that this substantial number of signatories is further evidence that public support for the UK ID card scheme is falling and encourages more members of the public and politicians to support this pledge and resist the ID Cards Bill.

2. Greens argue that ID cards will:

- Be costly and impractical: There is scepticism about the cost and operability of the scheme (up to £19 billion according to the LSE), as well as the government’s ability to manage the technology. Large government IT projects are renowned for cost over-runs and technical hitches. This will be the most ambitious such project in history.

- Lead to loss of privacy: There will be a massive database containing an unprecedented amount of personal information on people.

- Worsen harassment of minority groups: They’ll provide another pretext for stop-and-search, often directed at ethnic minorities.

- Have little impact on counter-terrorism: Terrorist networks would soon be able to produce counterfeit cards or papers enabling people to get legitimate cards. While former Home Secretary, David Blunkett admitted that it would be possible to register for a card using a false identity, but was satisfied that a person would then “be stuck with it for life”.

- Have little effect on illegal working: Employers who are already willing to break the law won’t be put off by identity cards.

- Be subject to ‘function creep’: The functions of the card will grow over time as it stores more personal information. More agencies will demand to see it, effectively making it necessary for people to carry one.

3. The vote in February which sparked this statement was 52 for, 47 against, 15 abstentions.

Motion agreed by the Parliament: *S2M-2463 Patrick Harvie: Identity Cards-That the Parliament notes the Identity Cards Bill currently being considered by the Westminster Parliament; is concerned at the lack of time devoted to the scrutiny of this Bill, which has left important questions unanswered over how the identity card scheme will work in practice; believes the proposals to be flawed on political, technical and financial grounds; is concerned that the national identity card and database offer an ineffective response to problems of security and fraud and pose an unacceptable threat to civil liberties; notes that the current cost estimate for the scheme is £5.5 billion and that further escalation of this cost is expected; rejects the Prime Minister’s belief, stated on 1 December 2004 in the House of Commons, that “it is legitimate and right, in this day and age, to ask people to carry identity cards” which appears to go far beyond the current scope of the Bill and would require the consent of the Scottish Parliament; welcomes the Scottish Executive’s position that identity cards will not be required to allow access to devolved public services, and calls on the Executive to make a full statement on the intended use of the identity database by devolved institutions.

PRESS RELEASE - Glasgow road protests

Posted on July 8, 2005

GREEN MSP RESPONDS TO G8 ROAD PROTESTS IN GLASGOW

Responding to G8 protestors plans to disrupt Glasgow’s road network today, Green MSP Patrick Harvie said:

“I believe that the legal process remains the best way to prevent the M74 extension going ahead – the argument against construction has clearly been won, and I believe that we will win the legal argument too. That’s I why I have always supported Jam74, the community-led group which is challenging the Transport Minister in the Court of Session.

“However I can understand the frustration of activists who see such utter arrogance from the Scottish Executive. Nobody can deny that these protesters have a serious point to make, which government in Glasgow, in Scotland and in the UK has failed to address. The Government must realise that when it fails to meet people’s concerns about their environment, either globally or locally, it will provoke a response.

“Whether it’s the G8’s failure to produce a meaningful response to the urgent problem of climate change or the Scottish Executive failure to understand that road-building schemes like the M74 extension will wreck the local environment, the record of Labour and Liberal Democrats in Government is dismal.”

The protests have been planned by the anti-G8 group Dissent. They have called on activists to disrupt traffic in the city centre in protest at the lack of progress made on plans to tackle climate change at the G8 summit.

The protests began by targeting an area close to the planned starting point of the M74 extension: a contentious new 5-mile motorway which was recently given the go-ahead by the Scottish Executive, despite a public inquiry advising that the road will lead to increased climate change pollution.

G8

Posted on July 7, 2005

It’s been a long week of G8-related activity, both in Parliament and throughout Scotland. I had hoped to add my thoughts about it all to this site as we went along, but as with so many of the best laid plans, it didn’t really work out that way.

You can read about the actions the Green Party took part in by going to the SGP website, or better still you can browse some great images, like the one below, taken in the last week or so by visiting the Photoecosse site.