Local activities

Recent activities

15th November 2006: protest against Ipswich interrogation centre

A group of NO2ID supporters protested outside Ipswich Borough Council's offices while the planning committe considered an application to open an ID interrogation centre in the town's Crown House.

Ipswich NO2ID supporters filed a total of six objections on planning grounds such as traffic, parking loss of amenity. Mapely ABI provider Ltd, applying on behalf of the Home Office to convert the offices at Crown House, claimed that only 16 people per day would be going there, all first-time passport applicants. Geoff Brace, speaking on behalf of all the protesters, pointed out that this figure would increase by as much as ten times when everyone renewing a passport is also forced to go to these centres to be biometrically scanned for an ID card. Even though Mapely didn't send anyone to speak at the meeting, the planning committee chose to believe the company's figures, not Geoff's, and discounted his estimate on the grounds that: "The supporting letter from the applicant makes no mention of ID cards, only passport applicants. The possibility that the Government will introduce ID cards is not a material consideration for this application." Ipswich NO2ID is considering appealing the decision on the grounds that the application materially misrepresented the facts.

Meanwhile, outside the meeting NO2ID activists were leafletting people going into both the Borough Council and Suffolk County Council's offices opposite. They got a good reception, and signed up a few dozen more NO2ID supporters. Overall, with blanket coverage across all Ipswich's three local radio stations and in the local papers (scans and recordings on the NO2ID in the local media page), this was a good day for the fight against ID cards in East Anglia.

Older activities

October 1st, 2005: street stall on Ipswich Cornhill

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