AB says no ID

AB isn’t waiting. He’s already said it!
Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced he is scrapping the government's plans for a national digital ID scheme.

He’s already said it, but he didn’t mention the fact that it had been abandoned in January this year. So presumably it’s just an example of announced non-changes.

Good to know that the money saved by “scrapping” this already abandoned initiative is estimated to free up hundreds of millions of pounds per year.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced he is scrapping the government's plans for a national digital ID scheme.

I was in favour of digital ID, if it meant I didn't have to pay for it, ( well not too much) I have a driving licence so did by see it as much different tbh, and we both renewed our passports a few years ago purely for ID purposes, although we have never used them due to DH health problems, so if this meant you could stop the extra expense next time I would be ok with that.

Mollygo

AB isn’t waiting. He’s already said it!
Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced he is scrapping the government's plans for a national digital ID scheme.

He’s already said it, but he didn’t mention the fact that it had been abandoned in January this year. So presumably it’s just an example of announced non-changes.

Good to know that the money saved by “scrapping” this already abandoned initiative is estimated to free up hundreds of millions of pounds per year.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced he is scrapping the government's plans for a national digital ID scheme.

What KS did earlier in the year was move from a compulsory id scheme It’s this watered down version that AB is apparently cancelling. So there is money ( and political capital ) to save.

Political capital to make -definitely, from *scrapping something that your government had decided to abandon?

It said the government had abandoned the ID scheme in January so are you saying AB has only abandoned the watered down scheme, not the whole ID scheme that the Labour government abandoned in January?
Sounds a bit odd if you are, but scrapping something that’s already been abandoned by the government party you’ve just started to lead is equally odd.

Mollygo

Political capital to make -definitely, from *scrapping something that your government had decided to abandon?

It said the government had abandoned the ID scheme in January so are you saying AB has only abandoned the watered down scheme, not the whole ID scheme that the Labour government abandoned in January?
Sounds a bit odd if you are, but scrapping something that’s already been abandoned by the government party you’ve just started to lead is equally odd.

I’ll try again - KS wanted a mandatory ID scheme. As a result of pressure, he then changed it ( watered it down ) to a voluntary ie not mandatory scheme. AB has now decided to scrap this latter version

I’ll try again. The Labour government abandoned the ID scheme in January.

Mollygo

I’ll try again. The Labour government abandoned the ID scheme in January.

If you say so - I really can’t be bothered

I don't think Starmer abandoned ID cards altogether - he changed from wanting them to be compulsory (so, presumably, free) to voluntary (presumably at a cost to the holders). In other words, he didn't abolish it, he changed the premise of it.

So if Burnham is scrapping the voluntary scheme (as opposed to the compulsory one), he is still abolishing something, but not the original ID card scheme.

I'm not too bothered one way or the other. Like 62Granny, I renewed my passport recently, but just for ID purposes. Health and health insurance costs mean I am unlikely to use it for travel, but these days we need ID, whether we like it or not - bank accounts and all sorts of financial transactions require it, as do applying for things such as bus passes. As I've said before, though, I have reservations about a single database that would allow a future malevolent government to create lists of people in different categories (eg religion, race, sexual orientation etc). Not because I am concerned now, but because we don't know what's round the corner politically.

Tuliptree

Mollygo
I’ll try again. The Labour government abandoned the ID scheme in January.

Tuliptree

If you say so - I really can’t be bothered.

That’s OK.