I am in the habit of collecting arguments that refute superficial and facile support for large and contentious issues. (the fact that the kind of people who support such issues are typically fat, self interested bigots is entirely besides the point…)
One of my current favourites is when I say that I am against ID cards and the reply comes back – with a certain sick innevitability – “wll, if you ain’t got anything to hide, what are you scared about”…
So I reply: “Really? – how much did YOU earn last year?” – and “what websites did you surf to all of last year?”
And then comes the killer; if anyone is stupid enough to actually trust the government and come up with a “we’ve nothing to fear – they would not use this info against us” REALLY?! ARE YOU MAD?! You could have just as easily stated the exact same thing in Germany in 1930 – or in Rwanda in 1990, or in Bosnia, or in Armenia, or Stalinist Russia … The State is Not Necessarily Your Friend; if it gets taken over – and they DO get taken over – this ID database will be the most potent tool against the people.
Do you trust every government that will ever come into power? – if you do you are stupid.
Campaign against ID Cards; at the very least sign this petition: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/IDcards/