A Time of Renewal

Well, May is the month where the spring is at its height (though looking out of the window, where rain is lashing, driven by howling winds, it doesn't much look like spring!) and is traditionally a time to celebrate rebirth and renewal, what with Mayday and all. Well, this year there is the Renew For Freedom campaign, which is encouraging folks to renew their passports in May as a protest against the oncoming ID cards.

It's not just a protest though: it's a defence measure. The government plans to introduce additional biometrics to newly issued passports within the next few months, a process which will include requiring applicants to attend "interrogation centres" and the beginnings of the national ID register to be put into place. This will not be optional. It will, apparently, be non-compulsory to carry an ID card when they come out (though how long that will last is anyone's guess), but we will only be able to opt out of the ID register (and the fingerprinting, eye scans, and storage in an IT system which probably cannot be built correctly, let alone to budget) if we do not have a passport. So renewing now means not going through that process for another 10 years, during which time hopefully the politicians will have changed their minds — or at least listened to people who know what they are talking about, and have modified the plan into something that will do some good.

Actually, I don't think the idea of the "interrogation centres" is entirely bad. Current ID verification pretty much comes down to a couple of bits of paper and getting someone to sign a photo for you. Going through the verification in person might be useful if handled right. But don't tell the Home Office I said that.

Anyway, I've just got the form filled in, so all I need to do now is get a photo taken and sent off with the form. That's one of the jobs for the weekend.