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by nmeofthestate 267 days ago
I don't think so. I think it raises peoples' hackles because it is "not something we do here" - English-speaking countries seem to not go with mandatory ID in the same way as continental Europe. Maybe a Napoleonic/Common-Law thing?

(Personally, I don't object to the idea).
1 comments
somelamer567 267 days ago
This seems to be a pub bore talking point... the usual seemingly-clever street-level arguments that don't stand up to serious scrutiny.

If people think that if they get ID card, the government is coming to take their precious bodily fluids, then the country has bigger cultural, political problems than a mere public safety measure.

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nmeofthestate 267 days ago
Pub bores might make that argument but it doesn't mean it's not what motivates most of the objectors, who may indeed be boring about it in the pub.
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TheOtherHobbes 267 days ago
Some of the UK's biggest industries are money laundering and offshore tax evasion schemes for the very rich. They're literally worth hundreds of billions a year.

It's not a pub bore talking point, it's an oligarch and non-dom talking point. A lot of rich people would be inconvenienced if beneficial owner information records had reliable links to real people.

The pub bores are collateral damage - people who post unironically about privacy on social media.

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