Over many years I lived in Pas de Calais. The UK border controls at
the ports are a joke and amongst the Brits resident in the Calais area
the stories of the UK Customs service made for hilarious dinner
parties. The stories are passed round and some are just to awful to
recount. It was always the case that many British citizens coming
back into the UK have had more trouble than illegal immigrants. Some
of those who have chosen to complain especially if they are Brits
living near the Ports have been harrased unmercifully when entering
the UK and complaining is futile.
At the present time those claiming to be EU citizens whether or not
they are, are allowed in without a passport. They come in on easily
forgeable id cards or no id cards at all. In the past one of the ways
of getting in was to simply to walk through the unmanned French Inward
Customs the wrong way and join vehicles after they had passed through
the Customs checks.
Today the Home Office who are letting people in with either no id or
EU id cards are telling employers that the id cards they are letting
them in on may not be proof of their right to work in the UK - so what
the are saying is that whilst they are abrogating ALL responsibilty
for effectively managing the borders they are asking and fining
employers for not carrying out the checks that they themselves should
be carrying out at the borders.
In Britain today the once great Offices of State appear not to run
with any regard to their responsibilities towards citizens of the UK
but more as an excercise in petulance by their officers.
It's been clear for some years (although never explicitly admitted) that
the real purpose of the ID card project is nothing to do with crime or
terrorism. Rather it is to control the illegal working associated with
the massive expansion in illegal immigration in the past ten years.
--
Les
The Perfect Law is one which everyone has broken.
Isn't the ID card system ultimately intended to control the entire
population using a vast, insidious, ever-increasing, totalitarian
database? By control, I mean we are to do the government's bidding and
not complain. A bit like that "1984" story.
Social control has always been desired by govenments, try Aldous
Huxley "Brave New World". Ah for that wonderful concept where
Politicians were 'Public Servants'. Personally, if the I.D. card ever
drops through my letterbox I shall perform the same action that many
others intend and give it 120 seconds in the microwave at full power.
Put it in a cup of water in the microwave. Apparently it does the same thing but doesn't
mark the plastic
--
Regards
Trespasser
---------------------
As long as government is perceived as working for the benefit of children, the people
happily will endure almost any curtailment of liberty.
I'm not paranoid, I use someone else's wireless network
I am not a free man, I am a number on someone's database
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Http://digitalgrudge.no-ip.org
----------------------------
The thing is though (and I dont disagree with what your saying) the ID card will become
indispensible. Not by our choice but by the sheeple that follow government rules and
those that love the 'nanny state'. Along with keeping an eye on the progress of these
cards it would also be a wise move to watch the progress of function creep, that is to say
that simple things like going to the doctors or visiting the dentist, perhaps even
applying for your photocard driving license will need to be backed up with the ID card.
Eventually those of us who do not wish to hold or even use these cards will become the
minority and we will be forced to present these cards.
Well pointed out, I never thought of that. Something else you mentioned was the black
market, just for a moment and hyperthetically speaking I wonder how long it will be before
these cards are as widely available as driving licenses and other forms of ID directly
from your local 'spivv'. It has been proved time and again that any card you hold can be
reproduced by technical wizards and the downfall is usually the magnetic stripe that this
country insists on using.
does it? (insist, i mean) -- it's ages since i saw anyone using a mag
strip -- many places aren't even equipped to deal with it.
however, the point is well taken. the chip-and-pin terminals so
commonly in use have been demonstrated (by a research student in my
department) to be far less secure than their manufacturers claim.
reverse engineering an id-style card was demonstrated more than a year
ago, in holland (iirc); it's a relatively small step from reverse
engineering to rebuilding (given a certain amount of crypto expertise,
something that's widely available).
we're all doomed ... and it's not just by the lunatics in the banks...
--
Robin Fairbairns, Cambridge