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David Blunkett threatens to sue over the ID card cancellation

_40634561_blunkett8 Former Home Secretary, forefather of the identity card scheme (then called 'entitlement cards') and general bad egg, David 'Big' Blunkett has rained on my parade.

Having made no secret of enjoying the announcement that the government is refusing to refund the 15,000 dupes that spent £30 on an ID card; in a radio interview this morning, Blunkett has sullied the tone by threatening to sue for recompense:

As reported by the Independent:

Mr Blunkett, who first announced plans for ID cards in 2003, dismissed suggestions that they formed part of a "surveillance state".

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I have got a card and it's very useful and I don't believe anyone has surveilled anything about me.

"Unfortunately, nobody is getting their money back. I'm thinking of suing them, but it might cost me more than £30."

David Blunkett and his former Government are already costing the taxpayer millions getting out of the long, expensive contracts for an intrusive scheme that nobody wanted.

Now he’s threatening to drain more funds in a legal challenge with no reasonable foundation.

It's all sadly reminiscent of the previous government.

By Dylan Sharpe

Posted on May 28, 2010 by Big Brother Watch Posted in ID cards
  • SadButMadLad

    How can he find it very useful. No one acknowledges them or can read them. Not understood by the Europeans, not acknowledged by travel companies, can’t be validated since no readers exist, can’t be used for ID since no one knows what they look like to validate them, etc. etc. etc. etc.

  • Lynn

    Are we seriously expected to believe that he actually paid for his with his own money!

  • Maxine

    Rather unfortunately the Government has petulantly decided to sully a perfectly good decision with a petty refusal to pay refunds. Being in Government means responsibility for all citizens, not just those who agree with you. It should not be about being vindictive or petty (unless we want to be viewed as the Nasty Party again. And we don’t, do we Dylan?). Especially when the decision is one likely to be challenged successfully in court.

  • jono

    ok, fine. Lets see the receipt.
    jono

  • http://fuelinjectedmoose.blogspot.com/ bucko

    Who does he intend to sue? This scheme was invented by the Labour party and mis-sold by the Labour party.
    Surely any refund should come from the Labour party funds, not the taxpayer. Particularly not the tax payers who were not duped by this hideous scam.
    What happens if you get sold a scam and then the company that sold it to you goes bust and disappears?
    Shouldn’t have bought the things in the first place and I have no sympathy.

  • phatboy

    Why should the government refund people who have taken out these cards? Provided the Government do not demand their return then the people who bought them have got exactly what they paid for when they paid for them: pieces of plastic with their name and picture on. They knew what the card could do before they bought it. They knew that both main opposition parties opposed ID cards and had pledged to block them if they came to power. I cannot see how Mr Blunkett or anybody else can have a recourse to law in these circumstances.

  • opsimath

    When they stop our perfectly good analogue radios working to bring in a politically-motivated and inferior digital system, and all this compulsorily, not voluntarily, like the idiots who bought Identity Cards, perhaps we should sue as well – after all, we bought them “in good faith”.
    It seems to be such a popular expression – it MUST mean something?

  • http://rocketspage.wordpress.com Boz

    David Blunkett typifies the Labour Party Control Freaks.
    A bunch of inadequate misfits with chips on their shoulders about all the normal people in society whose lives they seek to damage or even destroy with constant interference in daily life.
    Blunkett is a deeply unpleasant little man. A real nose picking little nerd.

  • Redacted

    Mr Blunkett was not the first Home Secretary ever to become noticeably paranoid and authoritarian in office, but his stress-related crack-up toward the end of his tenure showed quite clearly how that job is a tough job that requires a person of strong character who won’t be pushed around by the executive and who will be able keep a clear head under pressure.
    In retrospect, Mr Blunkett didn’t have those qualities.
    I actually think it’s a job that should be reshuffled fairly frequently.
    He is entitled to his opinion I suppose, but I’d suggest that if he’s worried about the 30 quid, he could flog the card on ebay, it might even be worth a bob or two you know.

  • Tony G

    The man is a fully paid -up idiot. Does he have a directorship with any firm involved with ID cards?

  • blastproof

    Caveat emptor, Dave.

  • I.D. cards are a good thing

    Why the fuck are they cancelling the I.D. cards. I thought the Lib-Dems were a good party until this bullshit.

  • Planner_21

    “Why the fuck are they cancelling the I.D. cards. I thought the Lib-Dems were a good party until this bullshit”
    I guess you didn’t bother reading their election manifesto then? Or bother reading anything about any of their policies, or their well documented opposition to ID cards.

  • http://profile.typepad.com/dainadaizy Daizy Daina

    The man is a fully paid -up idiot. Does he have a directorship with any firm involved with ID cards?
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