The UK government's plans to introduce identity cards were opposed on Saturday by the Cambridge No2ID group (more information) and the Cambridge Action Network. A stall and street theatre attracted sympathetic interest from passers-by, but hassle from a council 'City Warden' and baseless threats of violence by a shop security guards (report and pictures), an ironic outcome given that the campaigners intended to draw attention to potential abuses of power by the state.

This use of identity information to control the population is also due to be used in Iraq. There are plans to use similar 'biometric' forms of identification (eye scans and DNA tests) in Fallujah, where the returning population are identified and forced to wear ID badges, before having to submit to control over their movements and forced labour. This world-wide society of control continues to be challenged in the UK (with a national call for direct action on January 28th) and in Cambridge (the next No2ID meeting will be on Thursday 16th December at 8pm in the Maypole).