30 January 2008 – Patrick Harvie MSP (Green)
Everyone had a right to a private life without having to justify themselves to the government.
Mr Harvie said that his first encounter with ID cards was as a student at Manchester Metropolitan University, when he had opposed their introduction and the idea had been dropped.
He now had an ID card for the Scottish Parliament, necessary to gain access and to vote, amongst other things, but the difference was no-one was obliged to be an MSP.
Everyone had a right to a private life without having to justify themselves to the government.
Presumption of guilt
He condemned the use of swipe cards for school meals with the intention of hiding who qualified for free meals; the correct procedure was to eliminate the distinction.
He condemned too the increased use of technology being introduced into schools without consultation, fingerprinting, airport-style security scanners, etc.
This was inculcating the culture that all were assumed guilty until proved innocent.
Role of the state
What was the role of the state? In Scotland it had always been the case that it was the people who were sovereign, not the government or the head of state. The government was the servant of the people.
There had been a slightly different public reaction in Scotland to asylum seekers and about rendition flights. He hoped that this would be true also for ID cards.
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament had taken a position on ID cards; he would have wished that it had been stronger.
He had been shocked at the arguments against - the 'nothing to hide, nothing to fear' mantra which he said was vacuous.
It would apply equally to the state opening one's mail, searching one's house without warrant, searching minority ethnic members of the public without reason. This was already happening at Glasgow Central station, risking alienation.
Database
He would not be overly concerned about a voluntary ID card which was not supported by a database. There was no way to know how the database would be used in future.
Citizenship
The debate on the government/citizen relationship would continue, whether ID cards were introduced or not.
NO2ID had been very helpful in framing amendments in the Scottish Parliament.
Scottish politics were very interesting at present. Fears that the SNP would concentrate on promoting independence at the expense of more immediate matters had not been justified.
Rather, there were all-party discussions on the extent of further devolution. NO2ID should be taking notice. Let Scotland show the way for the whole UK!
Concerns
In answers to questions Mr Harvie agreed to pursue concerns over acquisition of telephone records by various bodies and concerns over the Scottish National Entitlement Card, originally presented to the public as a bus pass.