The Government's proposed compulsory ID Cards are back in the news today with Met commissioner Sir Ian Blair telling the London Assembly that the cards would have to be "almost foolproof". Great. And following on from that we hope that the police almost arrest the right man, the courts almost recognise the innocent from the guilty and that the government almost doesn't fuck over the people that elected it.
Normally we'd let loose a volley pointing out exactly what was wrong with this draconian scheme, but the London Assembly beat us to it:
This Assembly believes the Government’s plans for ID cards will not prove to be a cost effective measure in combating crime, raise legitimate concerns about civil liberties and will not represent good value for money... This Assembly notes that London’s share of the estimated £3 billion over 10 years that a national ID card scheme will cost would pay for an extra 7,200 police on London’s streets, a much more effective way of combating crime and terrorism.
Yep. The next time an evil doer runs towards you with a hissing fuse attached to a round black bomb would you rather have a handy piece of white plastic in your pocket to let him know where you live or see him brought to the ground by a barrage of truncheons?
