We cannot afford ID cards
Such is the mess Labour have made of our finances that whoever wins the next election will have to make painful and very unpopular decisions.
There have already been cuts in Labour spending plans even before the election, and there will be more after the election even if they win.
It is extremely important that as much as possible of the pain is diverted away from front line services such as schools and hospitals. There are no easy answers. But if we are to avoid cutting nurses, doctors, dentists, teachers and policemen we will have to find less essential things to cut instead.
Now let's make a simple thought experiment. Lets suppose you put a choice of two options to the British people in a poll or referendum
Option one - sack thousands of doctors and nurses
Option two - save billions by scrapping the ID cards plan instead.
Does anyone in their right mind imagine that option one would get more than a tiny handful of votes, mainly those of Gordon Brown, Jacqui Smith, and those people who are actually dependent for their personal livelihoods on the ID cards project?
Make it teachers, policemen, dentists, soldiers, or firemen in place of doctors and nurses and you would get the same result - the public would vote that ID cards are the lower priority.
I agree with Chris Grayling, who has stressed the nation “cannot afford” Labour's ID card scheme and promised that a Conservative Government would “scrap it as quickly as we can”.
The Shadow Home Secretary said he did not think ID cards were “necessary”, especially at a time when “the public finances are in a mess”
He condemned Jacqui Smith’s decision to launch a voluntary, single city scheme in Manchester, stressing:
“Piloting the scheme in one city is nonsensical and will only serve as a tax on the people of Manchester.”
Chris explained that databases for passports and driving licenses already exist, so spending billions on another scheme “just doesn’t seem to make any sense”.
And he promised that under a Conservative Government “the ID card scheme will go. I don’t think it is the right thing to do. We don’t think the nation can afford it and it won't happen."
You can sign an online Conservative petition against ID cards here.
There have already been cuts in Labour spending plans even before the election, and there will be more after the election even if they win.
It is extremely important that as much as possible of the pain is diverted away from front line services such as schools and hospitals. There are no easy answers. But if we are to avoid cutting nurses, doctors, dentists, teachers and policemen we will have to find less essential things to cut instead.
Now let's make a simple thought experiment. Lets suppose you put a choice of two options to the British people in a poll or referendum
Option one - sack thousands of doctors and nurses
Option two - save billions by scrapping the ID cards plan instead.
Does anyone in their right mind imagine that option one would get more than a tiny handful of votes, mainly those of Gordon Brown, Jacqui Smith, and those people who are actually dependent for their personal livelihoods on the ID cards project?
Make it teachers, policemen, dentists, soldiers, or firemen in place of doctors and nurses and you would get the same result - the public would vote that ID cards are the lower priority.
I agree with Chris Grayling, who has stressed the nation “cannot afford” Labour's ID card scheme and promised that a Conservative Government would “scrap it as quickly as we can”.
The Shadow Home Secretary said he did not think ID cards were “necessary”, especially at a time when “the public finances are in a mess”
He condemned Jacqui Smith’s decision to launch a voluntary, single city scheme in Manchester, stressing:
“Piloting the scheme in one city is nonsensical and will only serve as a tax on the people of Manchester.”
Chris explained that databases for passports and driving licenses already exist, so spending billions on another scheme “just doesn’t seem to make any sense”.
And he promised that under a Conservative Government “the ID card scheme will go. I don’t think it is the right thing to do. We don’t think the nation can afford it and it won't happen."
You can sign an online Conservative petition against ID cards here.
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