The British don't have an ID? The reason is this!

There is a cold knowledge that the British do not have ID cards. So far, Britain, Denmark and Ireland are the only three (former) EU countries countries with an identity card system. In other continents, Canada, Australia, Japan and other countries do not use ID cards.

In history, the British and the ID card system have experienced three separate and combined. 

The first separation and union originated from the fact that during the First World War, the cabinet government believed that the wartime situation needed, and the ID card system could properly help them calculate how many men could perform military service, the identity card system was introduced for the first time in July 1915 through the National Registration Law. At that time, it was successfully calculated that a total of more than 1.4 million men in England and Wales were eligible to join the army. The system was abolished in July 1919 afterwards.

The second time, 20 years later, during World War II, the British government once again implemented the ID card system in 1939. The purpose of this time is to implement the whole national service system, security system and material distribution. The identity card at that time, with its name and address on it, had no date of birth.

The government at the time it is also required that the holder of the identity card must keep the card properly and that the holder over the age of 16 must carry it with him. A person without a certificate cannot legally obtain it. Take the food.

But Clarence Willcock, who was the manager of a cleaning company in London at the time, was stopped by the police and asked for an ID card. Clarence rejected, the police asked him to show his ID card to the police station within 48 hours, but he still refused.

Later, the case went to the British High Court. The British judge Lord Goddard, who followed the case law, believed that the ID card system at that time made many citizens feel uncomfortable in implementation, and "there is a tendency to turn law-abiding citizens into law-offenders.

He also said that the government should provide convenience for the people, not create obstacles. In fact, although the ID card system established during World War II effectively prevented the "bigamy crime" at that time, the rate of violation of this crime is still quite high-it cannot prevent crime.

In 1950, that is, 11 years after the implementation of the ID card system, as many as 39 institutions can obtain national population registration data, compared with 1939

at that time, there were only a few, and this number was already very large.

Personal data may be arbitrarily transferred by the police or government agencies in practice. Use. So in 1952, the Churchill government decided to abolish the ID card system.

The third time, after the "September 11 Incident" in 2001, the British government once again implemented the ID card system in order to step up its anti-terrorism policy, and changed its name to "Welfare Certificate".

The British government aims to enable the general public to enjoy services and benefits through this document and starts to invest 0.3 billion pounds, and in the 2008 implementation, the time and investment ambassador this time the identity card system is considered to be the most serious implementation.

Unfortunately, after the first batch of welfare certificates were issued, the ruling Labor Party, which had always advocated the system, lost the general election in 2010. After the new party came to power (then Prime Minister Theresa May) abolished the ID card system.

A small ID card that we are accustomed to is regarded by the British as a "contempt for freedom" again and again, and its "respect for discipline and law-abiding public the threat posed by the people is far greater than the threat to terrorists "(Peter Hitchens, British journalist and writer).

Some people even think that the ID card system is an invasion of personal privacy and also marks the end of England.

In modern times when the number of immigrants is increasing, the British are still alert and resistant to the ID card system. The ruling political parties have not ignored the ID card system. They still think that the ID card system is not desirable, to "end this culture of surveillance citizens".

What does the British use to prove their identity?

The most used is the Citizencard/driver's license/passport, and foreign residents can use BRP. Other nationally networked personal credit information can also be

use, such as national insurance number, water and electricity payment slip, tax certificate.

Citizen card

Residence permit

Passport

Driving license

what is the change in the attitude of the current British government towards ID cards?

In recent years, there have been many calls to restart the ID card system, but none of them have been put on the agenda.

In 2020, the current British Prime Minister Boris Johnson proposed the idea of "digital identity" to solve the inconvenience of "it is difficult for British people to prove their identity online", including online medical appointments. Health, buy wine online (there is an age limit for buying wine in the UK, and identification documents are required);

there is even the government's "self-employed people" in the "Support Program", about 2.6 million people applied for subsidies, but about 1.4 million people (more than half) were stuck in the online authentication step.

In response to this move, the government said that the development of the digital identity market is expected to boost Britain's GDP growth by 3% 2030.

And the Times it means that through digital identity, landlords no longer need to spend a lot of time and energy checking tenant identity/immigration documents; it is convenient to find out whether the customer is over 18 through the network.

However, the Guardian also pointed out that digital identity is still an invasion of personal privacy, coupled with high prices and low necessity, this is not it should be a measure to reshape society in the "post-epidemic era.

With the above historical reasons, digital identity is not feasible, including leakage. Citizen privacy, citizens cannot enjoy various freedoms (such as strikes, parades, etc.).

(Protest marches and satirical pictures)

many media said that if digital identity is to be implemented, the corresponding legal system, science and technology, financial resources and other aspects must be followed on. At the end of the last October, the government came out to clarify that there was no plan to restart the ID card. The so-called "digital identity plan" was just the development of a web-based authentication system, based on readily available identity information, will not issue identity cards to citizens.

The British government tried to test 22 government services through an authentication program Verify, but the success rate of authentication was only 42%. If the British government wants to implement the plan, it is estimated that the first thing to do is to build trust with the people (Wired).