Allotments 4 All

Renew for Freedom

I am deeply opposed to Identity Cards and the rather scary National Identity Register.

The cards are really just an outward show for the far more concerning NIR. ID cards were abolished in 1950s because the police said they were making their job harder, and because the British public viewed them as an undesirable control in peace-time. The ID card while inconvenient is one thing, the NIR however has all sorts of implications, none of which are beneficial to you or I.

Labour's election manifesto promised the scheme would be entirely voluntary for this Parliament, however the Identity Cards Act 2006 makes it compulsory for anyone applying for or renewing a passport to be entered onto the NIR from 2008 at the latest. This will involve travelling to a 'processing centre', often many miles from your home, at your own expense, and paying a new increased passport fee. For example it would cost me in the region of £125 to renew a passport under the future system, the whole family would have to attend, increasing our household renewals from their current £136 to around £300, and time would have to be taken from work also.

As one of the first major acts of peaceful defiance against this abominable scheme thousands of us are going to apply to renew our passports during May 2006. This will give us freedom (under the current terms of the Act) from compulsory entry onto the NIR until 2016. It will also cause a massive spike in the Passport Agency's workload that can't be ignored by central government, even if it can be publicly denied.

This action is timed so as not to coincide with the Passport Agency's peak workload, so it should not cause backlogs for those needing to get/renew passports for their summer holidays.

I urge anyone, that can afford £51, to renew their passports during May 2006 and let this government know, that ID Cards are their Poll Tax!

Well put; I'll be joining in for one.

Mine is due, good plan

But you can't renew unless you're within 9 months of the previous renewal! (Unless you have lost/damaged your previous one, of course. I suppose a lot of passports will get literally laundered in the next few weeks.)

Mine's due Sept 2008, typically, so earliest I can renew is Dec 2007. Should be in time to avoid the register. 

moonbells

Quote from: moonbells on April 27, 2006, 16:47:17
But you can't renew unless you're within 9 months of the previous renewal! (Unless you have lost/damaged your previous one, of course. I suppose a lot of passports will get literally laundered in the next few weeks.)

Mine's due Sept 2008, typically, so earliest I can renew is Dec 2007. Should be in time to avoid the register. 

moonbells

From UKIPS website

“You do not have to wait until your passport is
nearly expired to renew it, but we can add no
more than 9 months unexpired validity from the
old passport to the new one. You can renew
your passport whenever you wish, but you
must pay the full fee and no refund can be given
for the unexpired validity in the old passport”.

Point of interest, Amphibian - is this action directed/proposed by UKIP?

Quote from: Wicker on April 27, 2006, 18:08:03
Point of interest, Amphibian - is this action directed/proposed by UKIP?

No.

UKIPS in this context stands for United Kingdom ID & Passport Service.

Although UKIP are anti ID card, so may well be one of the scores of parties, groups etc that support this action.

Ta amphibian. May well do that... can't yet tho - need it next month!

moonbells

hmmmmmmmmm interesting .... may just go and get a form.

i am totally opposed to ID cards and more scarily never heard of the NIR, but then i do keep my head firmly in the sand where the government is concerned unless something is said by likeminded peeps to take it out again.

i have no trust in this government whatsoever but have up til now done jack all but sit on my bum and done nothing to protest about their nasty little activities.

£51 is a small price to pay for 10 years freedom.  count me in.

thanks for raising the profile.

I checked my passport last night and it expires tomorrow anyway, so it works out nicely.

mine runs out tomorrow as well.... am posting the forms asap.

This is yet another one of their control-freak schemes to turn us all into mindless, faceless citizens who have to shuffle off and stand in line to get our "identity" validated by little grey men in suits.

I loathe the present "regime" - Patricia Hewitt used to be my boss. Enough said I think! :o

Tabbycat