[lvturner]

Having just paid a small fortune to renew my passport. I'm not super excited about this, especially as I live outside the UK.

I also don't trust them not to make a complete hash of all this, removing all potential utility while simultaneously increasing the chances of my ID being stolen.

sigh

[elcritch]

As an American it seems to me that the UK government insists on finding a way to upset all sides on any given issue like illegal immigration. If anything it's the singular and unique skill of Whitehall.

[cameronh90]

It's more that the average Brit finds a way to be upset about everything any UK government does. Even just the test of the cell emergency alert system was met with fierce public criticism: what if people crash their car out of surprise?!

But being critical of your leaders isn't the worst thing in the world. It's fairly bipartisan too; most of the people who voted for our current PM just a year ago now disapprove of him. A high level of public scrutiny on one's leaders' is probably quite effective at preventing totalitarianism. Whatever can be (often justifiably) said about our ineffective leadership, what we do have is a good track record for stability.

However, sometimes it's really just cynicism for cynicism's sake.

[foldr]

Don't be misled by the reaction on HN. The general concept of a national ID card is not unpopular in the UK:

https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/trackers/support-for-th...

IMO this is a gimmick and probably won't have much effect either for good or bad. I would vote against it given the chance. But there aren't that many British people who feel especially strongly about this.

[0xDEAFBEAD]

A good compromise leaves everyone mad.

[lvturner]

To be fair though, complaining about 'things' is practically a British national sport.