Telegraph: Jacqui Smith's launch of ID cards for foreign nationals provokes anger
Identity cards that will soon be issued as part of a controversial national scheme have been unveiled, as critics accused the Government of embarking on a "softening up exercise" to win public approval...The cards are to be issued to immigrants from November, with foreign students and marriage visa holders who want to extend their stay in Britain first to be given them. They will contain the holder's picture, digitally-stored fingerprints and immigration status. This information will be stored on a database, which the Government plans to merge with their proposed national database, containing details of everyone in the country. By 2011 anyone over 16 applying for a passport will have their details added to a national identity database...more...
Britain's "gaijin card" is being introduced now because the eventual plan is for everyone to carry an ID card. There is still considerable opposition to the proposal. If the plan is eventually abandoned, it will be interesting to see whether the "gaijin cards" are also taken out of circulation or whether people start thinking "Hmm...maybe they are not such a bad idea..." The article notes that "The Conservatives say they support giving biometric ID cards to immigrants - but that an identity register for the whole country is unacceptable and unworkable". The BBC has some reactions from foreign students here.
