Hallelujah! Let the Bells Ring!
The odious ID cards Bill is being dropped.Mr Clarke said the Lib Dems had failed face up to "resolving the tension between individual liberty and community security".
For once, I'm wholeheartedly with the Lib Dems. The fact is that the ID cards will not help resolve issues of community security whatsoever. The Bill made a mockery of Parliament, and there has been no evidence to show it will deter terrorists in the slightest. If someone wants to strap some gelignite to themselves and turn themselves into a walking bomb, the police, sadly, can't stop them. ID cards would be bad enough if there was a justification for them. As there isn't, it is just the first step towards a police state.
The home secretary said the Tories had decided "to kill the bill" and said Labour would re-introduce the plans if re-elected on 5 May.
Has it not occurred to Charles Clarke that there may be some pretty strong and concerted opposition against such a totalitarian piece of legislation? That despite the electoral system we have, there wasn't a majority which voted for the Labour Party to be in government and that the Labour Party doesn't have a monopoly or a right to popular policy? It's no wonder the country are disillusioned with Labour if that's the attitude they take.
Regular readers of the blog will know that I am no fan of the Tory stance on ID cards either, and it is only the perseverance of backbenchers which has prevented the Bill becoming enacted at a far earlier stage. I now hope that Labour will get a kicking and this terrible legislation will not make it into law. At the very least, we may see a backbench rebellion finish the Bill off once and for all.
posted by Ken @ 9:45 PM
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