[noborders-brum] Remember, remember the 25th of November

[Nellie de jongh]

Remember, remember the 25th of November (for 
those of you who have forgot, this is the day we 
are doing nothing about the introduction of ID 
cards)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

£1,000 penalties for out-of-date ID details

* Ministers want to avoid creating identity 'martyrs'
* Initial £30 fee to be 'modified' by 2012

Alan Travis, home affairs editor,  The Guardian, Saturday November 22 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/nov/22/identity-cards-home-office

People who fail to tell the authorities of a 
change of address or amend other key personal 
details within three months will face civil 
penalty fines of up to £1,000 a time when the 
national identity card scheme is up and running, 
according to draft Home Office regulations 
published yesterday.

The Home Office made clear that repeated failures 
to keep an entry on the national identity 
register up to date could ultimately be enforced 
by bailiffs being sent round to seize property.

But yesterday's detailed regulations to implement 
the national identity card scheme make clear that 
they intend to avoid the creation of ID card 
"martyrs", by levying no penalty on those who 
refuse to register for the national identity card 
database in the first place.

The Liberal Democrat peer, Lady Williams, is 
amongst ID card "refuseniks" who have said they 
are prepared to go to jail rather than sign up 
for the scheme.

But the regulations show that the main sanction 
they are likely to face is being barred from 
leaving the country when it is time to renew 
their passport.

The regulations confirm ministers' intention to 
make passports a "designated document" which 
means anyone applying or renewing their passport 
will be automatically issued with an ID card at 
the same time. Ministers claim that this does not 
amount to compulsion but ID card critics disagree.

The consultation on the fine detail of how the ID 
card scheme will work in practice published 
yesterday also makes clear:

* The £30 initial fee for a standalone ID card 
valid for travel in Europe only is capped for the 
year 2009/10 when it will be compulsory for 
airport workers and on a voluntary basis for 
students. The regulations allow for this fee to 
be "modified" in future years including by 2012, 
when it is anticipated that mass rollout will 
take place with 5-6 million combined 
passports/identity cards a year expected to be 
issued. Passport fees will be on top of this 
basic charge.

* If it necessary to change any of the details 
held on the card, such as name or fingerprints 
which entail a new card being issued, a further 
£30 will be charged. Changes of address or other 
details which do not appear on the card will not 
be charged.

* Transgendered people: those "moving from their 
birth gender to an acquired gender" will be able 
to apply for two ID cards - one for each gender. 
The second ID card will use a different name, 
signature and photograph although they will be 
linked as one entry on the national ID card 
register. Nevertheless they will be charged two 
fees for the privilege of holding two cards.

* Homeless people and others who live "transient 
lifestyles" will also be able to register under 
the scheme. The Home Office expects to be able to 
agree with homeless people a suitable place to be 
registered as their residence - presumably even 
if it is only a railway arch. Those who move 
around frequently for work will be able to 
register their principal residence without 
notifying each move.

But the draft regulations also set out in detail 
the escalating series of fines for those who fail 
to keep their ID card register entry up to date 
or fail to correct errors on it.

The kind of details that must be provided within 
three months are a change of address, a change of 
name perhaps because of marriage or by deed poll, 
a change of nationality, a change of gender, or a 
significant change in an individual's face or 
their fingerprints perhaps because of an accident.

The Home Office say they will not need to police 
this aspect as it will soon become apparent when 
somebody tries, for example, to get on a plane 
with a ID card/passport with an out of date 
address that does not match that the bank 
debit/credit card they used to book the flight.

They say they may well find themselves not being 
allowed to travel. Those who lose their ID Cards 
or have them stolen will have to report the loss 
within a month.

Fines for failure to update the register start at 
£125 going up to £1,000 for repeatedly failing to 
comply. As a civil penalty the bailiffs may be 
sent in to enforce payment.

The shadow home secretary, Dominic Grieve, said 
the scheme was truly the worst of all worlds - 
expensive, intrusive and unworkable.

"The home secretary has confirmed the worst 
element of the scheme - a single, mammoth and 
highly vulnerable database exposing masses of our 
personal details to criminal hackers.

"Worse still, she has magnified the scope for 
fraud by allowing spot fines to be issued by 
email," he said.

The NO2ID campaign say that in just four weeks in 
2005, more than 10,000 people pledged online to 
refuse to register for an ID card.

"It is possible that refusal could be made a 
crime but the government has shied away from that 
so far. If enough people say no, it will be 
impossible," said a campaign spokesman.

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