>But not anymore? Shame. Is the UK the only country left?
Ireland is the only other EU country not to have a national ID card.
I don't agree this is a shame though. Modern society won't function without
proof of identity. The absence of a single scheme merely means that it is
applied discriminately. For example, if you drive a car, if you are a
social welfare recipient, if you are someone aged 18-24 who wants to drink in
a bar, if you are a foreign resident (*) you will be required to have a ID.
Wouldn't it be better to have a single state ID scheme rather than have a
discriminatory scheme ? The examples of what are acceptable IDs when we go to
vote is a joke, covering all the above and also credit cards, check guarantee
cards etc many of which are not photographic. And doing away with identity
cards altogether would be worse. I don't want my vote taken by the first
person who claims to be me at the polling booth, and the fraud rate on credit
cards is ludicrously high mainly because of the absence of photo ID when you
use them.
A national ID card is long overdue.
(*) these are what Americans quaintly call "resident aliens", which always
conjures up for me an image of a live-in Martian. :-)
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