Re: REAL ID getting scaled back possibly

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Fearghas McKay <fm-lists () espace net>
Date: June 15, 2009 11:05:21 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Cc: Fearghas McKay <fm-lists () espace net>
Subject: Re: [IP] REAL ID getting scaled back possibly

There are similar things happening with the UK ID card scheme - it has  
been called in for review.

The couple of articles below give some background.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/15/id_cards_johnson_review/

Johnson shuffle returns ID cards to the table
U-turn ahoy?
By John Oates • Get more from this author
Posted in Government, 15th June 2009 08:58 GMT

The fate of the UK's national ID card project is looking increasingly  
doubtful, although new Home Secretary Alan Johnson is unwilling to  
plunge the knife. Not yet.
Johnson has begun a review of the multi-billion pound scheme and wants  
to look at it from "first principles".

The new Home Secretary is apparently more open-minded on the scheme  
than his predecessor Jacqui Smith and wants to see the evidence. Spin  
doctors told theSunday Times: "Alan is more sympathetic to the civil  
liberties arguments than previous home secretaries."
He will make his decision before the end of the summer.

But by the time Johnson's aides got round to briefing The Guardian  
yesterday, the boss was more in favour of the cards. Or rather he's  
pressing ahead with the project, but doesn't intend to make carrying  
the cards compulsory. ...

        &

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/martin_ivens/article6493536.ece

The Sunday Times
June 14, 2009
Let's be honest about the state we're in
Martin Ivens
...
Some influential Labour voices don’t think a rerun of a scare campaign  
about Tory cuts will save Brown this time. “It’s a complete misreading  
of the public mood,” says a former minister. “The public are  
tightening their belts, we are not. The voters will think that if  
government won’t tighten its belt, then it will raise taxes.” Alan  
Johnson, the new home secretary, may agree. He is calling in the  
government’s disaster-prone and expensive ID-card scheme in for  
review. This project was once a Brown priority, but in his weakened  
state the prime minister is hardly in a position to discipline the man  
most likely to take his job should he fall under a bus driven by  
Charles Clarke, the backbench rebel...



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