Mat Bowles

British Passport Renewal; you have 18 months

Right, background here (me) and here ( on . Short version, the House of Lords has accepted a “compromise” wherein ID cards won’t be compulsory until 2010 (ie after the next Election) but being on the NIR will be from as soon as it’s set up (sometime in 2008).

This is apparently a good one for civil liberties campaigners as it gives us another election before the cards are compulsory. Problem.

It’s not the cards that we object to

It’s the National Identity Register. I do not want to live in a database state, where some “unhackable” database (the Titanic was “unsinkable”, remember?) has record of my biometric information and essential identiy details.

However, the Home Office confirms you can renew your passport at any time for any reason.

I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.

I am not a number, I am a free man.

National Identity Register? £2,500 fine for failing to keep your details up to date?

Say No2ID.

Yes, I’m at work, yes I’m swamped. Regardless, I’m angry and scared about this one.

March 31st, 2006 Posted by MatGB | Uncategorized | 11 comments