No2ID pledge reaches 10,000 signature goal

More than 10,000 people have signed a pledge, promising that they will refuse to register for ID cards in the event that the UK government decides we need them to combat the political nasty of the day.

The pledge was started by No2ID's national coordinator, Phil Booth. He pledged that, if 10,000 people joined him, he would refuse to register for a National ID Card, and that he would donate £10 to a legal defence fund for anyone prosecuted for doing the same.

"Polls have shown for some time that 3 - 4 million people across the UK strongly oppose the Government's plans to introduce ID cards and a National Identity Register," he says in his pledge. "Were this many of us refuse to cooperate then the scheme would be doomed to failure."

At the last count, 10,038 people had pledged their support, and the pledge stays open for new signers until 9 October 2005. Plenty of time to put your name down, then, if this is something you feel strongly about.

The Pledgebank premise is that no one should have to take a stand alone, especially now that the web can connect us to so many like-minded people. People can use the site to promise action on something that matters to them, provided they get enough support.

Tom Steinberg, who founded the site, says that the idea is "a direct attack on the age-old barrier to action that comes from the feeling that you can't achieve things when you're on our own." ®

Bootnote:

In an email to all those who signed the pledge, Booth explained that No2ID will not be asking for the promised money straight away, but will keep working to stop the Act passing into law, or to have it repealed if it does. Any cash left after all this will either be donated to an appropriate charity, or will go towards drafting a bill to prevent any future government from "imposing compulsory registration and ID cards on the people of the UK".

Booth also announced that No2ID will also be launching another pledge very soon. He writes:

"Raising £100,000 in a little over a month from people who will refuse to register for an ID card is astounding, but now we want to raise £1,000,000 from people who - for whatever reason - feel they CAN'T refuse to register, but who will wholeheartedly support those of us who do."

Stay tuned for more on this. We'll let you know where you can sign up to this one as soon as we have the details. ®

Related stories

UK EU presidency aims for Europe-wide biometric ID card
UK biometric ID card morphs into £30 'passport lite'
Thousands sign No2ID pledge