Monday, March 10, 2008

Home office distorts ID Card opinions

This caught my eye in the ZDNET email newsletter I get:

Support for the National Identity Scheme remains stable, according to a survey of more than 2,000 people carried out for the Home Office by Taylor Nelson Sofres in February.

The research, released on 6 March, 2008, found that 59 percent of those questioned supported the scheme, with 23 percent opposed. A similar survey by Taylor Nelson Sofres in October 2007 found 59 percent in support, with 20 percent against.

Despite all the negative publicity 59% of the population still support ID Cards, something couldn't be right I here, surely? Well it isn't, its another Government piece of polling worthy of Yes, Minister. Reading on..
However, a survey by ICM on 1,008 people, also carried out in February and using a question mentioning a likely price of £93 for a biometric passport, found 50 percent in opposition and 47 percent in favour. A poll by YouGov for The Daily Telegraph in December found 48 percent of respondents opposed the scheme and 43 percent were in favour.

So back to the original poll:
But 56 percent thought that ID cards will be provided free of charge, with just 34 percent saying this is not the case, perhaps explaining the difference in results among different polls.

This is worrying here, as soon as pricing is mentioned opinions change. The opposition is good news but it is worrying that people only oppose ID cards on grounds of cost. Even more worrying is that so people are ignorant of the proposed costs despite all the noise. Where have these people been?

Somebody once asked me why I referred to them as Idiot cards, I need only point them to these polls.

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