We started the Directors as a joke, and in an ironic twist it has become a fully fledged band. We are based in Totnes and have the unfortunate fate of being a band some would pigeon hole as punk in a town full of hippies. Dom wrote the songs, Woody stole 'em and now we play 'em. We don't want to lecture you on politics, but check out the NO2ID link and the SilentProtest links, and if you want to call us bigots, send us a message.
How do you fingerprint and number 60 million people? To begin with you need to get them to come to you. The government's solution to that problem is to make people report themselves when they get a passport.
As part of the creeping move to state identity control in Britain, ID interrogation centres are being set up all around the UK. To begin with there will be 69, on top of the existing Passport Offices. A company called Mapeley, which owns the offices of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), has been given the job of setting them up. Planning applications may all be in by the end of 2006. Operations will start some time in 2007.
So, from early next year, when people (as young as 16) apply for their first adult passport, they will have to attend their nearest centre. There they will be subject to background checks, questioning to test their story against official records, photographs, and, before long, fingerprinting. Registration on the national ID database(s) - the 'National Identity Register' or NIR - will follow.
Even though the NIR has not been built yet, existing systems will collect and store the information about hundreds of thousands of people for later use. Passports already meet international standards. The only reason to do it is to prepare for the ID scheme.
www.no2id.net
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