The Second Coming of Tony Blairs Trojan Horse
The Second Coming of Tony Blairs Trojan Horse
The UK government is rolling out plans to let pub goer’s prove their age using digital ID on their smartphones.
Framed as a “voluntary” convenience, this initiative marks the first step towards a government backed digital identity system. But is this really about making life easier, or is it something far more intrusive?
Eighteen months ago, we warned about a pilot scheme in Nottingham that trialled digital ID cards and facial recognition on university students. At the time, it was dismissed as harmless experimentation, but we argued it could set a dangerous precedent for rolling out digital IDs on a larger scale.
Just a conspiracy theory chaps.. https://t.co/sVoPyxRING
— Killinit (@KillinitAi) December 9, 2024
Unnecessary and Overengineered
The UK already has a robust range of identification methods from passports to driving licences and even age verification cards like PASS. These are more than enough for proving identity and age. The push for digital IDs seems redundant given the plethora of already available options—unless, of course, the true aim is to centralise and control access to state services and, eventually, other aspects of daily life.
Ministers claim this initiative will “streamline” services, from paying taxes to opening bank accounts, and insist digital IDs will never be mandatory. Yet the introduction of a centralised “single sign on” system raises questions about where this is heading.
We only need to look to Europe, where “voluntary” digital ID systems are already advancing. These much touted schemes may save citizens time, but at what cost to privacy and autonomy? Europe leads the way in authoritarian surveillance, exemplified by new entry controls for visitors from third countries like the UK. While these controls are not yet in place due to technical issues, they will eventually tie into digital IDs—voluntarily, of course. Yet, if you can’t enter Europe without giving up biometric data, you effectively become a digital ID holder. The only thing missing is the physical card.
Digital ID By The Back Door
The rhetoric echoes Tony Blair’s failed ID card scheme from the 2000s. Back then, the public rejected the idea, citing concerns about civil liberties and government overreach. This time, the pitch has shifted to “voluntary” digital IDs, marketed as a modern convenience.
However, as history shows, systems that start as voluntary often become mandatory by backdoor methods. New systems are implemented by corporations and bodies connected with government so as to usher in a new normal that is uncomfortable at first, but doesn’t cause enough societal aggravation to warrant the kind of public pushback needed to stop these systems being adopted.
What’s the Endgame?
The infrastructure being built today could easily pave the way for future expansions. For instance, the NHS might link patient records to digital IDs, with officials already touting “data-sharing” as the “new frontier” of public service reform. In turn this data will be shared with insurance companies and travel related services making it impossible for the elderly and infirm to travel internationally. Covid passports during the pandemic showed how quickly temporary measures can become normalised.
The current proposal may start with digital age verification for buying alcohol, but what comes next? Driving licences, tax records, medical histories? All could be funneled into a centralised app. The government insists traditional IDs will remain an option, but for how long? Paper based documents are being phased out and billed as “outdated” or “inconvenient”.
If you care to look, digital ID is being introduced in a piecemeal fashion everywhere, a simple Google search will take you to the governments own website where they proudly announce the measures while denying any of it in public as scaremongering.
We have seen this new form of ID creep in, with the introduction of schemes to do things like rent a property and even get a job! A digital ID for veterans which lawmakers said is “inevitable” is also being rolled out and of course there’s a digital eVisa for migrants that’s even advertised by migrant “influencers” in a National newspaper!
Here’s the link, you’ll have to manually copy and paste it into your browser because I don’t want to give them the benefit of a backlink to this site.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/welcome-digital-world-evisas-you-34183440
Here’s a quote from the article –
It also makes international travel straightforward because you can link your UKVI account to your passport. As Chinese influencer Yinrun says: “It’s much quicker and easier and it cannot be stolen or lost.”
It seems disparate groups of non citizens and temporary visa holders such as migrants and students have become the test bed for these trials, often not from these isles and ambivalent to matters of British sovereignty, they are the ideal breeding ground for this type of technology that the British people have rejected out of hand in recent years.
A Word of Caution
This isn’t about resisting progress, but ensuring that progress respects privacy and individual freedom. When we raised concerns about the Nottingham trial 18 months ago, we hoped to sound the alarm as others have on these issues. Instead, it feels like the groundwork for a surveillance state is being laid under the guise of modernisation and a digital cage is being built around us as we struggle to survive on the North Sea Prison rock.
As this digital ID push continues, remember: convenience is often the bait for control.
Let’s not fall for it.
If you want to see more tech and security related news like this, check out the EVADE NEWS section in out website
In the meantime… Here’s a video of Mr Blair predicting your future.
