If I refuse the ID, I lose my job. I can’t access benefits without the document so in effect I lose any support.
Now compare that heavy handed approach to those breaking into our country. They’ll continue to get a roof over their head and allowances because as the government keep telling us ‘it’s inhumane not to and it would break international law’.
So me as a British citizen could end up being left out of services I’ve paid into and left to suffer because I choose not to have a digital ID whilst those not born here get given everything because of international law.
The blaaaaahhhhh from Government spokesdroids has recently been that Digital ID is necessary "so that you can access services more easily".
Well, _obviously_: if you make access to services conditional on Digital ID, then having one will _obviously_ make accessing services easier. It's this argument from IMPOSED necessity that everyone should laugh at and ridicule.
We've seen it before. "Oh oh oh, we HAVE to vaccinate schoolkids against COVID. Because otherwise they won't be able to go back to school".
(Why couldn't they just go back to school anyway? Because of the stupid COVID lockdowns and school closures which YOU, the Government, decided to impose, and which now - apparently - form part of the base fabric of reality).
I'm a veteran of the OG NO2ID back in 2005. I'm half going "Oh FFS, not _again_", and half "Bring it on!"
Powers once obtained are never given back, and power is always extended eventually. For example, in 2015 HMRC was given the power to directly raid bank accounts but we were told that the power would only be exercised in the most extreme cases of which there were said to be about 17 owing hundreds of thousands. This week HMRC announced it would raid anyone owing more than £1000.
Pre Blair, court orders were required for intrusion on citizens. Since Blair and continued by successive goverments the relationshiop between citizen and state has been steadily changing without murmur or effective protest.
Claims that ID will eventually be used to control what we can do - the Chinese social credit system - are not tin foil hat conspiracy theories. They are realistic assessments about governments' accretion of power the world over.
Everything you say is true Matt. It’s like microchipping your dog . Is that next ? It also aligns us with the EU, where ID cards have done absolutely nothing to influence the course of illegal migration . How can Labour expect us to believe it will when all we have to do is look across the channel for evidence that it won’t. The kind of people who employ illegal migrants don’t ask for paperwork and pay them cash in hand . Who does he think he’s kidding ? No mandate whatsoever for this high handed infringement on our civil liberties
"...and pay them cash" is the argument they'll use for replacing cash with a digital money. Then they link your money to your ID and before you know it you won't be able to spend your own money without their knowledge or approval.
If that sounds far fetched, when the BoE started looking into digital money, the consultants they hired asked something like "do you just want anonymous money, or something that can be tracked and controlled?" No prizes for guessing the BoE's answer. 👍
As always the law of unintended consequences will also apply and there will in addition be bureaucratic creep. It’s necessary for this need today and then it expands to meet new needs. In another consequence this proposed introduction could act as yet another excellent recruiting sergeant for Reform. Tongue in cheek is Keir Starmer a Reform member?
Thank you for quoting Macaulay and Scruton.
My late father knew a lot of Macaulay quotes and one of his favourites was this one
“Our liberty is neither Greek nor Roman; but essentially English. It has a character of its own,—a character which has taken a tinge from the sentiments of the chivalrous ages, and which accords with the peculiarities of our manners and of our insular situation. It has a language, too, of its own, and a language singularly idiomatic, full of meaning to ourselves, scarcely intelligible to strangers.”
What a lovely quote, sadly I feel that our national character is dying out amongst those even with long roots here.
This is a battle we barely talk about, the internet capabilities will eventual mould us into one homogenised humanity. It isn't going to be tomorrow but it will happen unless we regain a DEEP live of who we are. That goes for all countries because we all face a similar danger.
be sure to check out a petition on the uk government and parliament petition page call an immediate general election it currently has 933,030 signatures it urgently needs many more and you can help in getting them first be sure to sign it and most importantly be sure to reshare it widely with as many like minded people as you possibly can and be sure to ask each one of them to do exactly the same as im asking you to do.........a million signatures is within sight
I have listened to van der Leiden's "Democracy shield" speech on YouTube, it is a chilling Orwellien nightmare .Now this from Stamer,which is a pure act of authoritarian desperation. I urge everyone to sign the online ID petition.
There are so many negatives to this but if the unelected WHO declare another pandemic and mandate compulsory vaccines we’ll be stuffed. This has to fail and will hopefully bring this corrupt government down. Starmer is a tyrant.
It’s probably even worse than Goodwin makes out. These aren’t just ID cards, they’re the thin end of the digital wedge. How long until it's a face scan to buy groceries, get online, or access healthcare? Digital ID will slide seamlessly into digital currency, then into social credit.
And let's not kid ourselves: the Blob (since this is really who we're talking about) looks at China with awe and admiration – leading the way. The really chilling part is that many of the so-called “sensibles” are giddy at the thought of being managed like obedient little citizens, at least judging by the comment section in The Times today.
I totally agree with everything said in this Substack and the comments made thus far. There is no mandate for this, and I suspect it's only being mentioned now to distract attention from the various shenanigans surrounding labour recently. However, as a former PM said, the ability of the government to develop an app that works will push the introduction back to the other side of the next general election. I sincerely hope she is correct.
How long before they limit the amount petrol we can buy, the number of plane trips, the unhealthy food we can buy? How long before bank accounts are blocked or limited as punishment for criticising the govt or for expressing opinions they don’t like?
The people saying that anyone who isn’t doing anything wrong has nothing to worry about, really haven’t got a clue. George Orwell tried to warn us. The left is authoritarian to its core.
It’s a Tony Blair Fabian Society project. Digital ID is an important step for Blair and the Fabians to exert control over people’s lives which is why it must be stopped.
That's a brilliant summing up, Matt. Digital ID? A one-stop shop for the government to keep tabs on us, supposedly via a smartphone app, so an electronic device the location of which can be tracked. So, it’s not just about ID, it’s a tracking device. Just because it will be an app on a smartphone does not make it any more acceptable than the electronic tag worn by criminals as a punishment.
Does Two-Tier Keir really take the British people for fools? This is his answer to the boatloads of immigrants crossing the channel each day and entering the UK illegally? These boatloads of people are the issue, not the identity of law-abiding Brits. Rather than dealing with the real issue head on, he would rather hit every law-abiding citizen with digital tagging.
Every British adult already has some form of ID, and we are all on government and commercial databases, from the NHS and HMRC, to our banks, our supermarkets, the utility companies, our mobile phone and internet service providers. Most people have a passport and a driving licence. Even for Brits who may have neither, if stopped by the police and asked to prove their identity, a quick car ride home would lead, hopefully, to a birth certificate or a National Insurance Card.
When starting a new job, we all have to prove our Right to Work in the UK. A birth certificate, a UK driving licence, and a British passport are requested by employers to prove we are British. We do not need digital ID, digital surveillance, “Big Brother” watching our every move. North Korea, China, or any communist state would favour such ID. It’s time to stop Two-Tier Keir’s Stalinist tendencies right now. As you so rightly say when you sign off your social media posts, change is coming!
I hope someone can ask this question.
If I refuse the ID, I lose my job. I can’t access benefits without the document so in effect I lose any support.
Now compare that heavy handed approach to those breaking into our country. They’ll continue to get a roof over their head and allowances because as the government keep telling us ‘it’s inhumane not to and it would break international law’.
So me as a British citizen could end up being left out of services I’ve paid into and left to suffer because I choose not to have a digital ID whilst those not born here get given everything because of international law.
This government is done for, thank god
The blaaaaahhhhh from Government spokesdroids has recently been that Digital ID is necessary "so that you can access services more easily".
Well, _obviously_: if you make access to services conditional on Digital ID, then having one will _obviously_ make accessing services easier. It's this argument from IMPOSED necessity that everyone should laugh at and ridicule.
We've seen it before. "Oh oh oh, we HAVE to vaccinate schoolkids against COVID. Because otherwise they won't be able to go back to school".
(Why couldn't they just go back to school anyway? Because of the stupid COVID lockdowns and school closures which YOU, the Government, decided to impose, and which now - apparently - form part of the base fabric of reality).
I'm a veteran of the OG NO2ID back in 2005. I'm half going "Oh FFS, not _again_", and half "Bring it on!"
Excellent article. It is UnBritish. Just an extension of this government’s Orwellian control mania. No thanks.
Powers once obtained are never given back, and power is always extended eventually. For example, in 2015 HMRC was given the power to directly raid bank accounts but we were told that the power would only be exercised in the most extreme cases of which there were said to be about 17 owing hundreds of thousands. This week HMRC announced it would raid anyone owing more than £1000.
Pre Blair, court orders were required for intrusion on citizens. Since Blair and continued by successive goverments the relationshiop between citizen and state has been steadily changing without murmur or effective protest.
Claims that ID will eventually be used to control what we can do - the Chinese social credit system - are not tin foil hat conspiracy theories. They are realistic assessments about governments' accretion of power the world over.
Digital ID must be resisted vigorously.
Everything you say is true Matt. It’s like microchipping your dog . Is that next ? It also aligns us with the EU, where ID cards have done absolutely nothing to influence the course of illegal migration . How can Labour expect us to believe it will when all we have to do is look across the channel for evidence that it won’t. The kind of people who employ illegal migrants don’t ask for paperwork and pay them cash in hand . Who does he think he’s kidding ? No mandate whatsoever for this high handed infringement on our civil liberties
"...and pay them cash" is the argument they'll use for replacing cash with a digital money. Then they link your money to your ID and before you know it you won't be able to spend your own money without their knowledge or approval.
If that sounds far fetched, when the BoE started looking into digital money, the consultants they hired asked something like "do you just want anonymous money, or something that can be tracked and controlled?" No prizes for guessing the BoE's answer. 👍
Unfortunately I don’t think it sounds far fetched
As always the law of unintended consequences will also apply and there will in addition be bureaucratic creep. It’s necessary for this need today and then it expands to meet new needs. In another consequence this proposed introduction could act as yet another excellent recruiting sergeant for Reform. Tongue in cheek is Keir Starmer a Reform member?
Thank you for quoting Macaulay and Scruton.
My late father knew a lot of Macaulay quotes and one of his favourites was this one
“Our liberty is neither Greek nor Roman; but essentially English. It has a character of its own,—a character which has taken a tinge from the sentiments of the chivalrous ages, and which accords with the peculiarities of our manners and of our insular situation. It has a language, too, of its own, and a language singularly idiomatic, full of meaning to ourselves, scarcely intelligible to strangers.”
What a lovely quote, sadly I feel that our national character is dying out amongst those even with long roots here.
This is a battle we barely talk about, the internet capabilities will eventual mould us into one homogenised humanity. It isn't going to be tomorrow but it will happen unless we regain a DEEP live of who we are. That goes for all countries because we all face a similar danger.
We all know it won't make a difference to the illegals - they're breaking the law anyway!
be sure to check out a petition on the uk government and parliament petition page call an immediate general election it currently has 933,030 signatures it urgently needs many more and you can help in getting them first be sure to sign it and most importantly be sure to reshare it widely with as many like minded people as you possibly can and be sure to ask each one of them to do exactly the same as im asking you to do.........a million signatures is within sight
Matt ,you nailed it!
I have listened to van der Leiden's "Democracy shield" speech on YouTube, it is a chilling Orwellien nightmare .Now this from Stamer,which is a pure act of authoritarian desperation. I urge everyone to sign the online ID petition.
Done.
There are so many negatives to this but if the unelected WHO declare another pandemic and mandate compulsory vaccines we’ll be stuffed. This has to fail and will hopefully bring this corrupt government down. Starmer is a tyrant.
Spot on Matt 👍🏻
It’s probably even worse than Goodwin makes out. These aren’t just ID cards, they’re the thin end of the digital wedge. How long until it's a face scan to buy groceries, get online, or access healthcare? Digital ID will slide seamlessly into digital currency, then into social credit.
And let's not kid ourselves: the Blob (since this is really who we're talking about) looks at China with awe and admiration – leading the way. The really chilling part is that many of the so-called “sensibles” are giddy at the thought of being managed like obedient little citizens, at least judging by the comment section in The Times today.
I totally agree with everything said in this Substack and the comments made thus far. There is no mandate for this, and I suspect it's only being mentioned now to distract attention from the various shenanigans surrounding labour recently. However, as a former PM said, the ability of the government to develop an app that works will push the introduction back to the other side of the next general election. I sincerely hope she is correct.
How long before they limit the amount petrol we can buy, the number of plane trips, the unhealthy food we can buy? How long before bank accounts are blocked or limited as punishment for criticising the govt or for expressing opinions they don’t like?
The people saying that anyone who isn’t doing anything wrong has nothing to worry about, really haven’t got a clue. George Orwell tried to warn us. The left is authoritarian to its core.
It’s a Tony Blair Fabian Society project. Digital ID is an important step for Blair and the Fabians to exert control over people’s lives which is why it must be stopped.
Spot on as always Matt. The Labour Party needs to go the same way as the Tories or even suffer a worse fate!
That's a brilliant summing up, Matt. Digital ID? A one-stop shop for the government to keep tabs on us, supposedly via a smartphone app, so an electronic device the location of which can be tracked. So, it’s not just about ID, it’s a tracking device. Just because it will be an app on a smartphone does not make it any more acceptable than the electronic tag worn by criminals as a punishment.
Does Two-Tier Keir really take the British people for fools? This is his answer to the boatloads of immigrants crossing the channel each day and entering the UK illegally? These boatloads of people are the issue, not the identity of law-abiding Brits. Rather than dealing with the real issue head on, he would rather hit every law-abiding citizen with digital tagging.
Every British adult already has some form of ID, and we are all on government and commercial databases, from the NHS and HMRC, to our banks, our supermarkets, the utility companies, our mobile phone and internet service providers. Most people have a passport and a driving licence. Even for Brits who may have neither, if stopped by the police and asked to prove their identity, a quick car ride home would lead, hopefully, to a birth certificate or a National Insurance Card.
When starting a new job, we all have to prove our Right to Work in the UK. A birth certificate, a UK driving licence, and a British passport are requested by employers to prove we are British. We do not need digital ID, digital surveillance, “Big Brother” watching our every move. North Korea, China, or any communist state would favour such ID. It’s time to stop Two-Tier Keir’s Stalinist tendencies right now. As you so rightly say when you sign off your social media posts, change is coming!