ID card rollout begins

[Ian Batten]

[[ ob.crypto: I've not been seeing my own postings to this list.  A  
poke around reveals that I'd managed to configure DKIM so that my own  
server couldn't retrieve its own public key, so I was bouncing mail  
which my server had signed.  And they say that crypto-enabling of mail  
systems is easy. ]]

On 26 Sep 08, at 0756, Roland Perry wrote:

> In article <492CC2D6-7DD0-4AE3-BB1A-35EC475E19D6@batten.eu.org>, Ian  
> Batten <igb@batten.eu.org> writes
>> It's the  Poll Tax, but with no winners.
>
> Although if the cards announced yesterday allowed travel within the  
> EEA (and re-entry to the UK without a passport or landing card), the  
> holders would be "winners" to that extent.

It's not easy to see how, or why, the UK government can issue travel  
documents over its own authority which permit non UK-citizens to  
travel simply on the basis that the holder is a legal resident in the  
UK.   I'm pretty sure Schengen free-movement rules apply to citizens,  
not residents: does a US citizen with residence rights in France have  
automatic right of entry into Germany?  And if they do, it's hard to  
think of a more convincing reason to ensure that a party that proposed  
that the UK joins Schengen will be committing electoral suicide.

There are mechanisms by which country X can issue travel documents for  
citizens of country Y which might be acceptable in country Z, but they  
mostly apply to refugees and stateless persons.

ian