My late Dad came over all Tory in the late 60s, after Harold Wilson was elected in 1964 and the Labour Party caused all sorts of subsequent mayhem. He explained to me that Socialism was like a ratchet spanner, ever tightening its grip and incapable of slackening back. (It took a fierce woman with a handbag to click that little pawl and slacken the bolt slightly).

Now the Government hates not getting its own way and is something of an Ocean Liner steaming ahead, taking a long time to change course. (It is reputed not to have a reverse gear…) Why else does it persist with schemes proven to have no value whatsoever & indeed much worse unintended consequences like the Home Information Packs debacle?

Yesterday, a story appeared on Times Online, based on a leaked memo. Rather than force the cards onto an unwilling public, the intention is to ratchet us to have them through coercion, whilst appearing to be notionally voluntary.

“Various forms of coercion, such as designation of the application process for identity documents issued by UK ministers (eg, passports) are an option to stimulate applications in a manageable way.

There are advantages to designation of documents associated with particular target groups, eg, young people who may be applying for their first driving licence.”

“universal compulsion should not be used unless absolutely necessary”.

The bastards!

Anyway, thanks to the NO2ID campaign, I have got hold of one of the Home Office Memos, which they have annotated. Myself and several other bloggers are hosting this document as NO2ID have concerns that they may well be enjoined by our authoritarian control-freak Government.

You can read the document here (1.2 Meg pdf file).

Leaked document
National Identity Scheme
Options analysis outcome