ID cards and passports in the UK

[Lady Hawk]

I was chatting to nooners and scooter about the new passport rules in the Uk.

So i thought i would put up this info for us Brits

RENEW YOUR PASSPORT — RESIST COMPULSORY REGISTRATION

Why you should renew your passport, or apply for one IMMEDIATELY if you are aged 16 or over.
The Identity Cards Act 2006 turns your passport into a one-way ticket to control of your identity by the government. It means lifelong surveillance, and untold bureaucracy. This website, produced by the NO2ID campaign, is about how you can renew or apply for a passport to avoid being forced to register on the ID scheme database.
Please note that we are now dealing with two distinct situations: people who have not yet had a first 'adult' 10-year passport, who think they may ever need one, should apply for one straight away. People who already have a passport which runs out in a few years still have a bit more time to renew safely.
Getting a passport is about to become much more complicated and inconvenient…
From May 2007 the first of a new network of 69 government ID interrogation centres will open for business. If you apply for your first adult passport after this date, then you may be called for a compulsory "interview" at one of them.
Currently it takes around two weeks to get a new passport. The new way – called "Authentication by Interview" – is expected to take between four and six weeks. Not only will you have to fill in a bigger form, but you’ll be made to travel at your own expense to your nearest interrogation centre for official questioning. The government admits the questions will be "intrusive".
Furthermore, the government agency running the scheme predicts that because of the changes, as many as 1 in 4 young people will not receive their new passport in time to make their trip. "Fast Track" passports, which you can now get in an emergency within one day or one week are being abolished for first time applicants. You will have no choice but to wait your turn to be interrogated at a time that suits them.
…and make a government file on you for life
People applying for their first adult passport from April 2007 are being used as guinea-pigs for Tony Blair’s ID scheme. From later this year "authentication" is planned to include fingerprinting. This is what ID cards really mean: government collecting more information about you and linking it up.
The passport application form in future will ask you to give lots of information about yourself: official numbers, addresses for the last few years, maybe about your family or education... And you'll sign to declare that it's the truth.
That information will be used to look up everything recorded about you on all the available government and business databases: school records, social services, police, credit, perhaps family details... all currently separate and private… to build a single file of personal information on you for official use.
The interview will check that you can give answers about private details of your life that match the official ones. If you can, you'll get your passport. If not... it is not clear, but trying to get a passport "under false pretences" – if the computer says "no" – could be serious. If nothing else, it means more waiting. And "suspicious" details on file for life.
Apply now and tell your friends.
Get a passport now and you avoid this processing until you need a new one – 10 years. If the new scheme works (for the government, there's nothing in it for you) then this will be the start of "identity management" by government being forced on all UK residents – a file on everyone. But if you stay off the system, it may never work.
The opposition parties say they’ll scrap it. Get a passport NOW. Keep your privacy; and help save everyone else's, too.
Please tell your friends and family, if you think their private lives should stay their own. Print our factsheet, distribute copies, pin it on notice boards. We need to reach hundreds of thousands of 16-24 year olds before it’s too late. Send the Prime Minister a message he won’t forget: "Take a hike, Tony".
It's still not too late to renew.
The UK Identity & Passport Service (UKIPS) has not yet changed passport renewal procedures, but is soon to open the first of its network of 69 new 'enrolment centres'. Factsheet 2 [hyperlinks to the right] explains how and why you should renew before things change. Download it, pass it on to your friends, or print it out and distribute it.
UKIPS hiked the price of an adult passport to £66 from 5th October 2006. Now using the 'fast-track' (one week) service to renew your passport costs £91, and using the 'premium' (one day) service costs £108. Further steep price rises can be expected as the government's ID scheme proceeds — the basic price once ID cards are introduced is going to be at least £93.
You can apply for or renew your passport online right now at the UK Passport Service website [use the 'Launch online application form in a new browser window' link] or request that they post you a paper form to fill in yourself.
Act now. Protect yourself later.


"Take a hike, Tony" factsheet for those
APPLYING for their first adult passport.
Please distribute as widely as possible:

DOWNLOAD factsheet — 39KB PDF file
PRINT factsheet from browser


Factsheet 2 - for those
RENEWING their passport:

DOWNLOAD factsheet — 39KB PDF file
DOWNLOAD factsheet — 56KB MS Word file
PRINT factsheet from browser — front page
PRINT factsheet from browser — back page


Factsheet for British citizens abroad:
DOWNLOAD factsheet — 53KB MS Word file

This is an information website, produced and maintained on behalf of the NO2ID campaign — see http://www.no2id.net
Thanks to Corporate Watch and rareformnewmedia for use of factsheet graphic.

s.

[DrAndy]

The main thing I hate is the extra cost involved. This applies to all forms of gov activities, including visas

as for this

Send the Prime Minister a message he won’t forget: "Take a hike, Tony".

maybe it is a bit dated? or maybe he took the advice

[mrsquirrel]

I am for ID cards, not sure why, I just think that they are a good idea. Too many people coming in and out of the country now unchecked.

They make such a big deal about getting a visa into the UK but they make no effort to check if you have left.