Identity cards - Did you know?
1. Identity cards for all citizens had also been made compulsory during the First World War. They were discontinued in 1919.
2. The National Registration Act established a National Register which began operating on September 29, 1939. The new body introduced the identity card system, and the requirement that a card be produced on demand or presented to a police station within 48 hours.
3. On that day, registration forms were delivered across the country which were filled in over the weekend then collected. Every man, woman and child was issued with a card registering their name, age, sex, address, marital status and occupation.
4. In the first instance, all identity cards were a brown or buff colour. A blue identity card was issued for adults in 1943, while Government officials carried green cards with a photograph.
5. Defenders of the system said that the cards prevented fraud as they were required to open and withdraw from a Post Office account, ensured no non-nationals could benefit from NHS services, and helped prevent welfare benefits going to the wrong people.
6. In reality, the photo-less cards were relatively easy to forge, and criminals often carried other people’s cards. Moreover, the two-day grace period for producing the card negated their use in spot-checking against crime.
7. Harry Willcock gained popular support and attention following his civil liberties case. He formed the Freedom Defence Association to campaign against the cards, tearing up his own card outside the National Liberal Club. He died in December 1952.
8. The Identity Cards Act became law under the Labour government in 2006, creating voluntary National Identity Cards and a National Identity Register database. Controversial for the same reasons as the earlier system, the Act was repealed by the current government in 2010.

свернуть