So, they will have their regular work ID card that they must surely already carry, their soon-to-be-issued-compulsory-ID-card-with-400-items-of-biometric-data, and some new fangled Airport worker ID card?

Or are they saying that when compulsory ID cards are issued to every member of the public, then the airport staff will also be required to carry them? (as if they are some sub-species)?

"BA, BMI, Easyjet and Virgin said the government should concentrate on sorting out immigration controls and reducing queues, instead"

Take that Jacqui!!

Hmmmmm, Jacqui? That doesent sound very English to me.

I wonder if she will have problems getting HER ID card?

Jacquie "the hun" smith won't care about it, she is one of those pushing the ID cards despite everyone else rallying against them.

Given her flargrant lack of caring for anyone from the phorm sufferers to the CCTV laws. So why should she back down on something she actually thinks is right.

Wasn't it her that said there was no such thing as "knife crime."

Forget stalin Brown, it is the "brownshirt" Smith we should be wary of.

... that the presence of documentation - of any kind - implies the presence of faked documentation?

Having an ID card of any type tells *me* nothing about the habits, morals, or beliefs of the person carrying it; all it tells me is that was able to persuade the issuing authority that he should be allowed to carry it.

Obviously, the only way to be certain that someone is the person described on their ID is to sample them at birth. We old-timers, who foolishly allowed ourselves to be born prior to the Great Labelling[tm] will therefore have to be rounded up and disposed of.

so i wonder, who Smith knows at the company where these ridiculous Biometric cards are to be produced. i am glad that at least some people are going to fight against this ridiculous amount of government backed profiteering that is taking place in Britain.

Hey, watch out, you'll get done for sexist crimes calling her "hun"!

"Smith is proposing to force certain professions to carry the cards both to trial the technology and to force wider acceptance of the cards."

Would these be burglars, car thieves, muggers, terrorists, police and politicians?

If so, I'm all in favour of it.

In that case how the fuck did stuff get stolen from my suitcases? Their system might be secure in ensuring that Mr X is indeed Mr X and not Mr Y but it obviously can't work out that Mr X is actually Criminal X, and thus possibly Fundamentalist X

Come on - whats wrong with ID cards in airports? We're not talking about the same thing as national ID cards!

Can someone shed some light on what authentication and access procedures they have in airports today? Because it sounds from both these articles like there aren't any today - in which case an ID system seems perfectly acceptable - indeed absolutely bloody necessary - I have to show my passport and boarding card to get to a gate, shouldn't a mechanic show some sort of ID before he can get access to wielding a spanner on the 747 I'm boarding?

If (as I presume, nay, hope) there is already a system for access control then and additional system does seem overkill...

Lets have some facts either way please!!

You're right-ish, mate, but you're not quite precise enough.

You wrote: "all it tells me is that was able to persuade the issuing authority that he should be allowed to carry it."

In truth, all it tells us is that *somebody* (who may or may not be the bearer) was able to persuade *somebody else* (who may or may not be the issuing authority referenced on the card) to manufacture it.

The widespread theft of fliers belongings has been going on forever and the airlines nor govenment show no inclincation to stop it. I guess they look at it as a bonus for the workers or something since they don't treat it as serious crime no matter how in inconveniences the customer.

Well, we already HAVE an ID system for international flights: the passport.

So maybe you should be asking "why isn't the passport enough?".

That's just the point - they already have an ID card system for airport workers. The government want to add to that by making them the first group to suffer the new Big Brother database and its associated card.

All airport workers should already have an ID card, supposedly received after going through suitable checks. However, it appears that the system is deficient and some weren't checked properly, but what makes you think a new system is going to be any better?

BAA should be responsible for carrying the cost of making sure that airport workers are legit. We already pay for some of this through the higher airport taxes and don't see how a national ID system will make this more secure.

As a previous poster mentioned... already have passport and drivers licence. What more is needed if these are validated correctly.

May I propose the first occupational group required to have cards be members of both Houses of Parliament. If the system is fair, secure, non-invasive and adds to the security of Parliament then why would they possibly be against it? Let's see them lead by example.

If the checks done for these proposed cards enhance the current system then something is badly wrong. All these things should already be done to make sure we can travel safely. If they're not then somebody should swing for it. IMHO it should be a criminal matter to employ someone in an airport if they've not been properly checked but I doubt we'll see the MD of BAA in cuffs.

If the current system needs fixing then please fix it. Don't waste our money on a new one.

As an American, I'm appalled by this hypocrisy.

Er, oops, already did that one in another story.

:)

Seriously, I've been more-or-less following this stupid national ID card thingy. I feel bad for you and wish you all luck.

We've been struggling with our own national ID card problems. We've been unable to prevent the conception, so now we're trying to strangle it at birth.

Wish us luck.

P.S. I like the "Leading by example" posting. Seems like the laws our governments pass almost never apply to the people passing the laws, eh? What a difference that might make.

BAA Airport workers already have secure and validated IDs, with standard swipe reading, proximity read sensor info and a PIN number. Acquiring one is a lengthy process including a Criminal Records Bureau check, history and background checks, and lots of forms to fill in. I have one. It's about as secure and valid as a police or armed forces ID.

This is gust an exercise in frog boiling. Put a frog in hot water and it will jump out immediately. Put a frog in cold water and slowly heat it and it will boil to death. Get any captive group, construct any spurious case - no need for any substantive case, any old guff will do - and force them. Slowly, bit by bit, witout anybody ralising it we will all be bar coded, tracked, traced and monitored. Every tiny detail about all of us will be recorded, where we go, what we do, who we are related to, where we have lived, tax records, health records, NI records, bank accounts, foreign travel, all significant financial transactions, every time the ID cars is used.

This is the national ID scheme. What they are attempting to do is introduce it piecemeal. They can then say "look it works" and use that to validate rolling it out nationwide.

If they do get this through watch for an 'incident' at an airport say 6 months or so later. The person/people involved will be identified by ID cards and this will be used to help justify them and as proof that they stop terrorism.

Mines the one with the tin foil lining and roll out hood.