Executive Faces Fresh Challenge on 'Big Brother' Programme
Wed., March 23, 2005. 00:35.
Executive stalls on ID card statement
Greens said today that the Executive is ignoring the will of the Scottish Parliament and accused Ministers of stalling in the hope that parliament's demand for a statement on plans for ID cards and a national identity database will simply go away. The Greens have resubmitted their demand that a statement is made, and are appealing for the same cross party support that saw the Executive defeated on ID cards previously. (1)
The Executive suffered a humiliating defeat last month when a Green demand for a statement on the proposed use of an Identity Database in Scotland was supported by Parliament. However no statement has so far been forthcoming, despite repeated requests.
Patrick Harvie MSP said: "In ignoring Parliament's clear demand for a statement, Ministers are undermining democracy and the status of the Parliament. It may suit the Executive to ignore Parliament, but their failure to respond is damaging to devolution and public confidence in our democracy. The Executive has had a month to respond already - how much longer is Parliament expected to wait?"
Mr Harvie also highlighted a London School of Economics report into the 'Identity Project' which has slammed the government's plans on the grounds that they are "too complex, technically unsafe, overly prescriptive and lack a foundation of public trust and confidence" as well as possibly contravening the European Convention on Human Rights. (2)
Harvie added: "This new report spells it out pretty clearly - we are dealing with a scheme that is flawed at nearly every turn. If the Executive is not prepared to make a statement very soon, Ministers will face a pretty hefty political backlash. Even if the Libdems abstain again, the rest of the parties are united in their opposition and are determined to defeat the identity card project in Scotland."
For further information contact the Green MSP Press Office on 0790 99 33 074
Notes
1. Motion placed before parliament today: * S2M-2643 Patrick Harvie: London School of Economics Study: The Identity Project—That the Parliament notes the findings in a recent comprehensive study by the London School of Economics (LSE), The Identity Project: an assessment of the UK Identity Cards Bill, that involved more than 100 academics and outside experts in the fields of law, technology, information systems, government policy, business, economics and security; is concerned that the authors of the study have concluded that the proposals for an identity card and database scheme are “too complex, technically unsafe, overly prescriptive and lack a foundation of public trust and confidence”; further notes that the report has warned that, rather than increasing UK security, the Bill may create greater security dangers than before as well as contravene the European Convention on Human Rights and exceed current cost projections; agrees with the main conclusion of the LSE study that the current identity card legislation must be abandoned, and calls on the Scottish Executive to comply with the terms of motion S2M-2463 by giving a full statement to Parliament on the intended use of the identity database by devolved institutions.
2. For the LSE report go to: http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/pressAndInformationOffice/newsAndEvents/archives/2005/IDReport.htm
Contact the Scottish Greens' press team on 07909 933 074.