You’re annoying me, Alan

By Bill Dewison

It may not seem like it when I comment on the LabourList but I rarely get really annoyed. Mildly annoyed or irritated would describe my state of mind when I disagree with something strongly, but Alan Johnson this week had me fuming.

Why is it when I go to a popular news website I’m greeted with Alan in virtually the same pose we saw Jacqui Smith in less that 2 years ago? He is standing there with an inane grin on his face whilst holding an ID card with his name and picture on it. Has he had a bad day and thought to himself ‘What can I do today to ruin my credibility with the Labour minded?’

Seriously, if Jacqui Smith proved one thing whilst she was the Home Secretary is that the ID card scheme is not only unpopular, it is a cash drain on government finances and it will not tackle the problems that it was designed to address.

It was originally designed with good intentions we are led to believe, but how does a card that contains 49 individual pieces of information that is now not going to be compulsory to have or carry got anything to do with good intentions? We may as well be told that we may or may not carry around a banana if we wish to do so because that’s about all the ID card is; a complete fruit with the potential to cause a slip if dropped on the floor.

How many millions has it cost so far and where could that money have been better spent? I would have infinite respect for Alan Johnson if he came on News at 10 and announced that the ID card is obviously as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike and he was scrapping the idea altogether, but instead he hands the Conservative party a nice big target to aim for.

The first thing the Conservative party will do if they win the next election is scrap the ID card scheme and it has been mentioned again and again as a reason why some will vote for them, so Alan, please for the love of all that is holy, scrap the scheme. Get rid of it. Throw it in the same direction as the Conservatives threw the Poll Tax and move on to more important matters.

At the very least you will remove the teeth from the Conservatives argument, but best you will tell the people of Britain that they are being listened to by their Labour government.