Jacqui Smith, the government's Apparatchik-In-Chief for Lying to the British Public About Data Collection (ie Home Secretary) let slip something interesting this morning in an interview on BBC TV about the new measures to introduce ID cards.
She talked about 'offering' cards from 2010 to young people (mainly students). The official line so far has been that this will be to 'help' them open a bank account or get a student loan and apparently nothing else. This morning she inadvertently also mentioned 'renting a new flat'.
Members of the British media are not always as well-informed or astute as they should be, so this little slip went unchallenged. What it reveals, however, is that the government intends to make the use of ID cards necessary on far more occasions than they are admitting to. If a young person needs a card in order to 'rent a new flat', then what else will they suddenly find they need one for? Buying booze? A car? A computer? A mobile phone?
The HO also maintains that there will be no compulsion for young people to have an ID card. It's virtually impossible to exist without a bank account these days, especially if you're young, so it would seem that ID cards will be necessary, therefore de facto 'compulsory'.
It's called 'doublespeak'. 'Telling lies' is a more down-to earth description.
She talked about 'offering' cards from 2010 to young people (mainly students). The official line so far has been that this will be to 'help' them open a bank account or get a student loan and apparently nothing else. This morning she inadvertently also mentioned 'renting a new flat'.
Members of the British media are not always as well-informed or astute as they should be, so this little slip went unchallenged. What it reveals, however, is that the government intends to make the use of ID cards necessary on far more occasions than they are admitting to. If a young person needs a card in order to 'rent a new flat', then what else will they suddenly find they need one for? Buying booze? A car? A computer? A mobile phone?
The HO also maintains that there will be no compulsion for young people to have an ID card. It's virtually impossible to exist without a bank account these days, especially if you're young, so it would seem that ID cards will be necessary, therefore de facto 'compulsory'.
It's called 'doublespeak'. 'Telling lies' is a more down-to earth description.
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