The British Labour Party has admitted to plans to establish a national DNA database. Blood samples would be taken of all babies at birth and anyone applying for a work visa. This database would be linked to a compulsory national ID card. Apart from any civil liberty implications these proposals ignore the growing scientific doubts as to the reliability of genetic fingerprinting. There would be a thriving black market in false ID cards.
Few people get less excited about their national flag than the British.
But even the British have their limits. When rumours began to circulate that the national ID card would show the Euro flag, not the Union Jack, not only was that limit reached, it was well exceeded. A national outcry erupted, it even displayed the extremely boring news coverage of the Republican national convention in San Diego. The rumours illustrated where the pressure for a national ID card was really coming from. One more bolt of the Euro Police State was about to slot into place.