Anyone know more about this BT "uk identity verification" sch eme?

[Nicholas Bohm]

At 16:12 20/03/2003 +0000, Ian G Batten wrote:

>On Thu, 20 Mar 2003, Watkin Simon wrote:
>
> > > protection, and I cannot believe the civil service would miss the
> > > chance to record all the on-line votes, even if the Labour party
> > > didn't think of it first.
>
> > Can you define what you mean by "the civil service" in that context?
>
>Information is power, and who voted for whom might come in very handy.
>Since for decades the civil service has insisted, without any clear
>evidence of cases where it's been needed, that it's vital that the UK
>doesn't have a secret ballot, they must have a reason.  I don't think
>it's that they count all the votes and file them away, but I don't think
>that if that were a ten minute job the same reticence would apply.
>
>Let's turn it around, Simon.  Government insists that we cannot have a
>secret ballot.  Why shouldn't we assume the worst?  There are certainly
>credible accounts of votes for fringe parties being traced back to
>voters in the sixties.

I don't think this answers Simon's question, which seems to be "who counts 
as being in the civil service?".

I can't say what Ian meant, nor do I know what Simon was getting at - but 
would it help to suggest "servants of the Crown whose remuneration is 
provided out of money voted by Parliament other than members of the armed 
forces" just to start the point off?

Regards

Nicholas

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