White Rose is a protest blog collective focusing on civil liberties in the UK.
It was set up to point a finger at the erosion of personal freedom in the UK.
Government's active measures introduce new means of control such as identity cards and surveillance cameras, the passive measures such as weakening of double jeopardy and presumption of innocence.


The arguments
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Gabriel Syme and Perry de Havilland of Samizdata.net to rally the Anglosphere behind the UK.
White Rose contributors are those bloggers and non-bloggers who oppose restrictions on personal liberties.

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Wednesday, October 01, 2003
Carry your voluntary ID card or else …
Brian Micklethwait (London)
(0)   Identity cards

More creepy Big Blunkettry, this time from Scotland (on Sunday):

EVERY secondary school pupil in Scotland is to be issued with an ID card bearing his or her name, age and address, under a controversial government scheme branded last night as an assault on privacy.

The 'entitlement cards' will be issued to 400,000 12 to 18-year-olds from March next year and will be used for a range of services including school meals and leisure centres.

Nice trick. Get a card, or go hungry.

But the scheme – which has already been piloted in Aberdeen – was condemned yesterday as a cynical ploy to introduce national identity cards for adults by the back door.

The bit of this Scotland on Sunday story that did most to threaten my digestion was this:

An Executive spokesman told Scotland on Sunday that the scheme, officially called 'Dialogue Youth', would see 400,000 cards given to all Scotland’s 12-18 year olds. The spokesman said they would not be compulsory.

Dialogue Youth. Puke. And they won't be compulsory. It's just that if you don't carry one, you won't be able to do anything or buy anything.