Back in early 2004, getting infuriated at the Government’s ID cards project and because no campaign materials had then been produced by the federal party and NO2ID had yet to be formed (so they couldn’t help either), I decided to bang out a mock ID card to use for campaigning in North West Hampshire.
The ID cards project has now dragged on so long that, in total, I’ve produced versions with Charles Clarke, David Blunkett, Tony Blair and, most recently, Gordon Brown and Jacqui Smith. (I don’t know why I didn’t bother with John Reid).
For whatever reason, the party nationally decided they quite liked my card, and it still lives on, with a modified slogan, in the ID card campaign button
What people may not know, unless they’ve seen the original, is that because I was spoofing the look of an ID card, I decided to give it a watermark, as follows:
“I am a Liberal and I am against this sort of thing”
Harry Willcock, December 1950.
I can’t remember where I found the exact quote, but I was originally inspired to investigate Harry Willcock by a small panel on the wall of the National Liberal Club which is probably best quoted in full.
THE MAN VERSUS THE STATE
HARRY WILLCOCK, lifelong Liberal and a member of this Club, was, in 1951, the central figure in the historic “Identity Card” case. His refusal to produce his Identity Card to a police officer started a train of events that brought home to his fellow-citizens the curtailment their liberties. During the hearing of the case. the Lord Chief Justice and six other High Court Judges expressed strong disapproval of the continued use of Identity Cards under legislation intended only as a War-time emergency measure. Public opinion was aroused. Within a few months the Identity Card was abolished. On December 12, 1952, Harry Willcock died suddenly, while debating the case Liberalism against Socialism before the Eighty Club. The last word on his lips was “Freedom”.
As last words go, that’ll do!
Now, every time I see that campaign button, I think of the watermark, and I think of Harry Willcock.
If you would like an ID card of your own, you can download the latest version in PDF format here, sign the party’s online petition here and sign up to NO2ID here.
Hi Martin
Just wondering, but isn’t £6,000,000,000 a bit low as the cost for id cards – I thought everybody* accepts that £20bn is going to be closer?
Are you planning any campaigning about the coercive data extraction centre in Andover?
* except for certain people in the home office, of course.
Hi Julian,
Good point. I’d updated the various ministers over time, but not the exploding cost.
I hadn’t been planning to campaign against the ID interrogation centre in Andover (or the ‘Interview Office‘ as they euphemistically call it) – but it’s definitely something to consider. I’ll talk to my colleagues in Andover about it. We’d need to find a way to demonstrate that helped build opposition to the scheme. I don’t know how many people know about it, and it would be good to build awareness.
Martin