We Need Identity Cards

escaped

From a practical point of view they would be useful instead of the awkward passport. Especially when travelling: checking into hotels, hiring cars etc. Also, in banking and some shops.

If people refuse to have one to show they are legally a member of a country, then they're the ones with the problem, not me.

It isn't a substitute for a passport, it would not be recognised abroad.

No we don’t.

We have this boring debate every couple of years or so.

My view hasn’t changed.

I'd have no problem in having one but I don't agree it should be mandatory, there's so many rules/laws/regulations stating we HAVE to have this, we've GOT to have that so I'd happily have one but voluntary!

When we lived in Cyprus the ID card was needed to all bank transactions, medical appointment, mobile contracts etc. Issued free and valid for 10 years. I also carried one as a member of the forces and as a child and when married to a soldier. Am I correct in thinking that they were also compulsory during the war years ?

From a practical point of view they would be useful instead of the awkward passport. Especially when travelling: checking into hotels, hiring cars etc. Also, in banking and some shops.

If people refuse to have one to show they are legally a member of a country, then they're the ones with the problem, not me.

M0nica

They wouldn't work. All the countries mentioned here as having ID cards have just as much problem with illegal immigrnts as we do, unless, of course, we become a police state like China. Russia and North Korea and flood the streets with a quasi-military police force constantly stopping people to check their papers.

Since illegal immigrants will all be foreign, there will be no point in stopping clearly indigenous people. All the people stopped will need to be have different coloured skin, hair or eyes, this will be massive discrimination of the many millions of people of other ethnic origins who live here legally and have done for generations.

I am not against ID cards I simply cannot see their point. We had a holiday home in France for over 30 years and I cannot ever remember having to produce my passport for identification, except when we bought and sold the house.

Without an identity card in France you cannot access education, health services, banking, housing, purchase of major items and public services.
Not sure how you manage for long without any of those.
As a second home owner you may not have needed your passports much, but I can assure you that as migrants here, we needed passports, translated copies of birth and marriage certificates, proof of taxation etc etc. We now have identity cards and have been asked for them fairly frequently.

I'd be happy to have one.

The other thing is most of us carry ID anyway so it really means more stop and search which I think is a good idea.
First step would be to make it mandatory to carry some form of ID.

There is a voluntary ID scheme called Citizencard. Accepted by police etc. Haven't found out how much it costs yet.

Agree, I always had one from being a services child to a services wife.

In these days of having to prove who you are for so many things they would be great for those of us who don't drive or have a passport.
When I was dealing with my dads estate I had to prove who I was to the financial establishments and every time it was "we accept driving license/passport". All well and good but we don't all have them.
Recently had the same thing when I gave my son some money towards his house.

They wouldn't work. All the countries mentioned here as having ID cards have just as much problem with illegal immigrnts as we do, unless, of course, we become a police state like China. Russia and North Korea and flood the streets with a quasi-military police force constantly stopping people to check their papers.

Since illegal immigrants will all be foreign, there will be no point in stopping clearly indigenous people. All the people stopped will need to be have different coloured skin, hair or eyes, this will be massive discrimination of the many millions of people of other ethnic origins who live here legally and have done for generations.

I am not against ID cards I simply cannot see their point. We had a holiday home in France for over 30 years and I cannot ever remember having to produce my passport for identification, except when we bought and sold the house.

I have never understood why we don’t have them either.

Unfortunately in the case of many migrants they have no papers so we will never know who they really are.

PoliticsNerd

And so the hard right flex their power ...

Are you sure it’s not the hard left, or the hard centre?
What do you actually mean by the hard right?
It’s used a bit like woke nowadays, to mean anyone you disagree with.

PoliticsNerd

And so the hard right flex their power ...

If it’s a hard right policy why did the millions of people who lived under the cosh of Russia have to carry them.

Fine by me too. Had to have one all my working life for the job, driving licences contain 'personal information' so why would anyone object to carrying an I.D. card?

ID card? Fine by me.

I have never seen a problem with ID cards. DH and I both carried one when we were in the forces and as an Army dependent, I had one whenever we were serving abroad. I never saw it as a threat to my personal freedom. If you have nothing to hide, what is the problem?

Less easy to forge now with digital technology, face recognition, fingerprints etc. ID cards could coordinate lots of info already available about us - NHS, National Insurance numbers, driving licence etc. it could easily identify those who have overstayed visas or are here illegally. - at the moment thousands live under the radar we have no way of knowing who is in the country. One of the pull factors for illegal migration to the UK is that we can’t easily check who is working etc. The conspiracy theorists will hate the idea of course.

I’ve carried my Maltese ID card for over forty years without any problem and I don’t understand why anyone would be against them.

We need them to collect parcels, prescriptions, any bank dealings etc. and can also travel within the EU without needing a passport. They are free of charge as well.

As to forgeries, well I suppose it’s possible just as passports can be forged.

They are free in France and many other European countries and under 20€ elsewhere.
For our French residency cards, which are our ID cards, we had to provide photographs and fingerprints, but no cost.
It is much easier than carrying a passport.

The government aren’t proposing that though are they? It would cost billions I would imagine.

If the government insists on us having them they should fund them.

There are two group who historically didn’t want them,, those on the right who didn’t want personal freedoms limited - what they saw as a totalitarian society, and civil rights activists, who thought they were not necessary. One of the main reasons they weren’t popular though was the estimated cost to the individual of buying one. I suspect that would still be a major factor if people were asked now - a lot less people might be in favour if the cost to them was, say £500.

Casdon

Skydancer

FriedGreenTomatoes2

What IS the argument against them?

Yes what IS it?

Historically the right don’t like them because they are seen as a sign of a totalitarian society.

But another poster seem to think it's the hard right as he or she terms it, who want them.