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For those of you thinking that Europe would be a haven from Ashcroftian virtue, think again. Things are in an uproar over this:
'Martyrs' who fail to register for ID cards face £2,500 fines By Nigel Morris and Ben Russell 30 November 2004
People who refuse to register with the planned national identity cards database will be fined £2,500, the Government said yesterday.
There will also be penalties of £1,000 for those who fail to renew their ID cards or forget to update their details when they move home. The fines will be levied when it becomes compulsory to co-operate with the controversial ID cards scheme, expected to happen by 2012.
With polls saying 20 per cent of the public oppose the plans and an anti-ID cards group claiming to be signing hundreds of new supporters daily, it raises the prospect of "ID card martyrs" embarrassing a future Labour government.
Phil Booth, spokesman for protest group NO2ID, said: "The penalties are outrageous. Millions of people oppose the plans; people are telling us that they would rather go to prison than sign up."
You'll be required to sign up to the scheme, report when you've changed addresses, and carry the card with you at all times to present, on demand, to anyone who asks for it.
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