"ID CARDS A WASTE OF MONEY" SAYS COUNCIL LEADER
Mole Valley Council is gearing up for a motion to oppose the introduction of ID cards by the government.
Conservative Council Leader, Jean Pearson said:-
"Local authorities up and down the country are already opposing this ID scheme. It is going to cost Mole Valley a huge amount of money and it’s impossible to see what the benefits are for our hard-pressed residents.
That’s why the Conservative Group has put together a motion opposing this ill conceived scheme from central government."
The motion is broadly supported by the Liberal Democrat Group and will be discussed by councillors at the next council meeting on the 30th October 2008. Mole Valley council is encouraging discussion of the National ID Scheme, so that people in our area are not "sleepwalking into a surveillance state," as the Information Commissioner has put it.
Councillors and concerned individuals can raise awareness among their colleagues and contacts of the nature of the National ID Scheme. Most people are complacent about the question because they haven’t considered its full implications, and think of "ID cards" as simple pieces of plastic, rather than the visible face of a vast change to the way we are governed and the way we live our lives.
Malcolm Johnson – Communications Officer – Conservative Group of Councillors for Mole Valley
21st October 2008