Totally desperate MP claims scrapping the ID scheme will mean job losses

The ruling Labour government is becoming increasingly desperate [edit out April Fool's story from Guardian] It is the constant snooping and move towards total social control that marks the redundancy of this government. In the following press release, forwarded to me by James, NO2ID North of England coordinator, a Labour MP claims that scrapping the ID scheme will mean job losses. Rubbish! The ID scheme is one gigantic con that is costing a fortune to set up, and which cannot possibly be of any utility. It's sole purpose is to tag the population in order to allow government to gain more control over society. It won't work. Scrapping the scheme will mean more money being spent on what's important: law enforcement, targeted police work, border control and fraud prevention. Both opposition parties are committed to scrapping the ID scheme, and scrapped it will be.

Campaigners have criticised local Labour MP, Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods for deceiving the public over the threat of local job losses resulting from the possible scrapping of the ID card scheme. Dr Blackman-Woods claimed that plans to scrap the scheme would “cut jobs in Durham's Passport Office which administers the voluntary ID cards scheme” but new information gained by the non partisan campaign group NO2ID under the freedom of Information act shows that since the ID card scheme came into law in 2006 it has resulted in no new jobs being created in Durham.

James Elsdon-Baker the North of England co-ordintor for the campaign said “The claim that we need the £230,000 a day ID scheme for jobs is madness when the government is readily announcing cuts in front-line services. We have gone from ID cards will stop terrorism, to ID cards will create jobs, it's a failing scheme with increasingly thin justifications for it's existence. When the scheme is scrapped I’m sure the civil servants that have been made to work on ID cards would be happy to go back to working on useful things that people want."

Meg Hillier the Minister for Identity has recently announced that if Labour is re-elected the North East will be one of the regions where the scheme will come to next. Both the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative Party have stated they will scrap the scheme to spend the money on front-line services if elected.