I used the excellent Fax Your MP service today. It’s the second reading of the ID cards bill on the 20th, so I thought I should make sure I registered my objections to the scheme with my MP, Jean Corston (Lab, Bristol East). Here’s the text of my letter:

Dear Jean Corston,

I’m writing in advance of the second reading of the Identity Cards Bill, which I understand will take place on Monday 20th December.

I would just like to express my opposition to this scheme. Whilst ID cards will be expensive and will involve deeply invasive regulation of our private lives, I have seen nothing that has convinced me that Identity Cards will in any way help protect us from terrorism, or assist in controlling immigration, or indeed any other of the areas that they are alleged by the Home Office to be of benefit.

I am also worried by the data protection and civil liberties implications of the scheme. Again, given that there seems to be little hope that the cards will substantially improve our lives, having so much deeply personal information available from a single source (and one which, let’s face it, has a farily abysmal record in implementing large IT projects) seems too much of a risk.

I suppose that my ideological objections can be summed up in that I see myself as a citizen of the United Kingdom, not a subject. The ID card is more suitable to a state where the opposite emphasis is true.

One final consideration is the cost of this project. Surely there are far more worthy targets of our nation’s resources. Poverty, homelessness, education, health… I’m sure you are more aware than I of many of these issues.

I hope that you will bear these concerns when debating this matter in the House.

Yours Sincerely,

Sam Pearson

Admittedly, doing this today might be a bit short notice, but it’ll be interesting to see what kind of response I get, if any.