The Swindon page - news archive

Videos of the benefit night in aid of Medical Aid for Palestinians held on Tuesday 27th January at the Beehive pub in Prospect Place.

Between 250 and 300 people assembled in Wharf Green in the centre of Swindon yesterday for the largest anti-war protest seen in Swindon since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Watch the videos here.

MEMBERS of Swindon’s Stop The War Coalition attended a silent vigil at Regent Street war memorial last night in protest at the war in Gaza. Bombs have rained down on the region for fourteen days pushing casualty figures towards a thousand. Swindon protesters against the violence lit candles and held Palestinian flags last night as they attempted to garner support for a march on the Israeli embassy in London today.

Video clips of the public meeting addressed by George Galloway on 7th June at the Broadgreen Centre are now online

I too laughed when I read about Jonathan Jones, the 79-year-old Broadgreen resident, receiving an 18th birthday message from North Swindon MP Michael Wills (SA, Sept 25). However, although Mr Jones finds it a great joke and a bit flattering, the irony of this won't be lost on people who recognise that these little errors will be an everyday occurrence for thousands of people when the National Identity Register and Identity Cards scheme starts to encroach on every aspect of their day-to-day lives.

I HAVE refrained from responding to the many vitriolic letters regarding my ID listening event as I believe your readers will make up their own minds on the increasingly hysterical nature of the correspondence. However, Alistair Flockhart's letter (SA, September 19) contains a number of inaccuracies which I would like to correct.

Anne Snelgrove has set her meeting for tonight at the Liden Community Centre, but we learn that the event is not to be public, rather restricted by invitation to 40 people to attend a Listening Panel. This is contrary to her declaration (SA, February 13) that she would hold a public meeting on the ID Card issue.

I AM happy to inform Mr Scott (SA, September 14) that the next Conservative Government will scrap ID cards and the National Identity Register. Although other EU and non- EU countries have ID cards, none have attempted to create an Identity Register, which begs this question why on earth are we doing it? The most effective way in which Swindon residents can vote to end the nonsense of ID cards will be to vote Conservative at the next election.

So, Mrs Snelgrove's meeting on the issue of Identity Cards and the National Identity Register (Liden Community Centre, September 20, 6.30pm) is almost upon us and as one of those lucky few to have received a coveted invitation I am very much looking forward to this meeting. However, it hasn't gone unnoticed by myself or many other people that the focus of this meeting has shifted to suit Mrs Snelgrove's agenda.

Last Saturday, members of Swindon Stop the War Coalition leafleted Swindon Youth Fair, which was being attended by an Army Recruitment team. We have produced a high quality leaflet aimed at young men and women actively considering joining the army. It is modelled on the Army’s own leaflets and puts the other side of the story, but in terms that engage with our target audience, rather than lecturing them about why the army is wrong.

A flaw in the Government's ID scheme has been exposed by the article regarding Stewart Cruse (Advertiser Sept 13) who has had his personal information misdirected by a commercial organisation and now fears fraud.
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Unlike commercial customers, if the information on the NIR database is compromised we cannot move from the provider and the system remains intact with no real imperative to change, why should it? Politicians will try to tell us that the personnel and the system are secure. They can even quote misuse laws. These assurances can be tested by asking them if they will give assurance such that any recorded breach of the database will resolve in them resigning. If they cannot give that assurance then they are aware that the system cannot be 100 per cent secure.

REGARDING the meeting concerning the ID card scheme at Liden Community Centre on Thursday, MP Anne Snelgrove is holding what she describes as a listening panel' on ID cards to "share information and reaction to the scheme with a Government Minister". Are the hand-picked audience of 40 there as extras to a publicity stunt. One wonders what purpose is to be served by this palliative staged-event when the decision to proceed with the menacing National Identity Register was taken not only without reference to the public, but on such a covert basis as to raise an atavistic howl across the land.

SWINDON could be twinned with a small town in Palestine, known for its stone cutting factories. The council's Town Twinning Network will consider a request from the Palestinian Twinning Network at a meeting on Wednesday. A group of peace campaigners from Swindon visited Beit Fajjar last October to promote friendship links with the town in the Bethlehem district. Beit Fajjar is a small town of 12,000 people next to the controversial wall that the Israeli government is constructing.

IT was noticeable that Conservative Parliamentary candidate Robert Buckland wrote with feeling about the Labour Party and the ID card scheme. But what he did not say was what I believe most people would want to know. That is, what are the Tories going to do about ID cards if they regain power?

This idea of a database State cannot address this issue, in fact it can only make it far easier for people to lie, due to the phenomenal amount of information generated in the gather phase for the database creation. In essence the lies become buried under a mountain of truth. It is also widely acknowledged that a more significant danger is the inevitable increase of crime when this database is compromised.

At a time when our public services are under constant pressure to do more and where outsourcing of IT systems to far flung parts of the world is common place, his comments illustrate some stark examples of how this database could represent a danger to us all. The fact is, none of us know where our data will be accessible, who will be able to access it and for what purpose.

Last November's public meeting on the same subject, organised by volunteers, was held in the Pilgrim Centre, ensuring that nobody was turned away due to lack of space, it's curious that our MP was not able to secure a venue large enough to accommodate all those who want to attend her event.

Barrie Hudson's article, This whole thing is Idiotic, September 1, is mistaken in thinking that our MP, Anne Snelgrove is holding a public meeting about ID cards at Liden Community Centre on September 20. I telephoned to book a place and was told that, due to the restricted size of the venue, there are only 40 seats available and invitations for that number have already been sent out. I am now on the reserve list in case there are any cancellations.

Further to Alistair Flockhart's letter (Adver Aug 28) Anne Snelgrove's ID event is a response to the wider debate staged earlier this year Whose Identity Is It Anyway, which Mrs Snelgrove was too busy to attend. While we welcome any debate on the Government's plan to create a compulsory national register of all citizens, it would not be right to imply our problems begin and end with this vast white elephant. The Government is going to roll out an identity register for children next year - ContactPoint (formally known as the Children's Index).

PUPILS at Chuchfields School put their scientific thinking caps on and wrote to the Prime Minister about nuclear power. More than 20 Year 7 youngsters from the Salcombe Grove school wrote individual letters to Gordon Brown telling him how the energy source will affect future generations.

TONY Blair's departure from Government must be regarded as the best thing that's happened in British politics for years. However, his appointment as a peace ambassador for the Middle East is so perverse that it can be likened to appointing King Herod as the patron saint of the Save The Children charity.

It seems that Gordon Brown, as with Tony Blair and his non-existent weapons of mass destruction, is turning out to be a man who just cannot be believed. If his words had any sincerity he would immediately withdraw our troops from Iraq and send them not to Afghanistan, but use them in aiding the civil powers in controlling points of entry into the country and in the fight against terrorism.

AS the body of the 150th soldier to be killed in Iraq was borne the in solemn procession along Wootton Bassett High Street, residents of all ages stopped to pay their respects. The body of 30-year-old Corporal Rodney Wilson, of 4th Battalion The Rifles, was flown back to RAF Lyneham yesterday afternoon.

IN reply to Mrs Snelgrove, on February 13, you told us via the Swindon Advertiser, as well as in person, that you would arrange a meeting to debate the ID Card Act 2006. This kind offer of yours was prompted, I believe, because you were unable to accept our invitation to debate the Act at the public meeting we arranged in February.
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Now the elections are over it is timely to make good your commitment to us and allow us to debate the Identity Register with you fully.

WHAT a state of disgrace the democracy of our country has now reached when MPs vote to exclude themselves from the freedom of information laws, which they introduced in 2005, and which applies to every other public establishment.

The NO2ID petition forms are our way of expanding our supporter base. Every person's name that is collected can be added to our mailing list so that they can be kept informed of campaign developments. This is in contrast to the electronic petitions on the Number 10 website, which whilst well intentioned do not help us to reach new supporters. Petition forms can be downloaded from the NO2ID website. Please spare some time to collect as many names as you can and send the completed forms to NO2ID, Box 412, 19-21 Crawford Street, London W1H 1PJ as soon as possible. Everyone who gives their name and address will get a pack with information about the identity card scheme and the campaign.

Surprise, surprise, Prince Harry will not be going to war. Was there ever anyone stupid enough to think otherwise? The establishment says it's too dangerous. Of course it's dangerous. War is dangerous. It's also dangerous for those who are out there already.

After Britain's first violent pre-Second World War grab of Iraq and its oil, in 1920 in response to Iraqis wanting to control their own country Britain bombed them. Churchill said they "could be cheaply policed by aircraft armed with gas bombs".

Our local elections ID questionnaire was a great success. Supporters up and down the country made sure that the ID scheme was a local issue for candidates. Thanks to everybody that took part in the fantastic lobbying efforts, for example campaigners in Swindon sent out questionnaires to over 90 prospective candidates! Now it's time to get our message out to the wider public again. The best way to help us get more supporters is by getting people to sign our petition forms. Petition forms can be downloaded from the NO2ID website

On Monday our regular socialist film night in Swindon was lucky enough to be visited by Ed Hill from Bristol, who introduced his documentary Our sufferings in this land , which is currently DVD of the month for This Week in Palestine.
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I have to say that as someone who has visited the West bank myself, this film is the best account I have seen for revealing the day to day oppression of Palestinians, and is also full of practical advice for activists. It doesn't assume any prior knowledge of the history or the current situation, but neither is it patronising. I strongly recommend that you buy a copy, and once you have watched it pass it round your friends.

I see Tony Blair is going to resign on the 27th June. About 13 years too late in my humble opinion.

Maybe it's time for a quick review of some of his achievements.

G SCOTT implies that the NO2ID campaign group is wasting its time working with the two Labour MPs. I grant Mr Scott that both Anne Snelgrove and Michael Wills followed their Party into the database abyss, voting every time for one of the most sinister Bills we have witnessed.

Having just seen this article, I was wondering about cost. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6642339.stm

At what point is the money better spent on other measures to reduce whatever it is supposed to help? In other words some basic cost benefit analysis. Given that it seems to have increased by more than 30% today, and we are some time away from it being implemented, at what projected cost level should we stop, simply because it is too much for the defined benefit?

Both Mrs Snelgrove and Mr Wills can only do what they are told by the Labour leadership who in turn are instructed by Brussels. The same would apply under a Tory of Lib Dem Government so I repeat my letter of a few months ago. The only way to defeat ID cards is to elect a party which is against them and the longest moderate party to hold that opinion is UKIP.

The full results of the elections for Swindon Borough Council on 3rd May 2007

I will start by providing you a resource to use in online communications that provides a very accurate expression of what happens in a database state. The example is a website from the US where the level of information storage and availability to everyone is clearly expressed : http://government-records.com/index.php providing the following list of information that is available to all:

Anne Snelgrove said ( BBC politics show Sunday April 22) that people she speaks to say of ID Cards ‘ if it stops illegal activity, stops crime and identity theft they’re all for it’. I can’t blame them for their views – I may re-consider my opposition the National register too if it were possible for a piece of plastic to eradicate such crime.

Anne Snelgrove appeared on last Sundays edition of BBC Televisions 'Politics Show'. The show was filmed live in Sussex Square, Walcot, and was billed as a discussion of cctv. Anne couldn't resist the televisual opportunity to dismiss the NO2ID campaign as 'making a lot of noise' and went on to claim wide support for identity cards, (although she didn't claim support for the National Identity Register), from the doorsteps of Swindon. We have termed Annes constant denials that a rising tide of anti-identity card sentiment exists, 'The Canute Defence'.

AS a rather ancient mariner, Able Seaman RN retired of seven and a half years' service and five years' reserve, I would like to offer myself to the Iranian government as a co-operative diplomatic hostage. As a Royal Navy reservist I was paid a shilling a day (six pence decimal), but after only 10 months of the five years my 6p per day was stopped for no reason whatsoever. That was back in 1956. So if the Iranians accept my offer, on my return to the UK I would write about my experiences and thereby make up the monies the Admiralty surreptitiously purloined from me while a reservist.

I imagine my ultimate low point was, after taking part in the biggest protest march in our history against the war, how easily our views were ignored. Yet this week marked another shattering low point as we witnessed the appalling sale by service personnel of their stories for money.

Amnesty's position has always been straightforward on this - if someone is suspected of committing a crime they should be given a fair trial. If they are found guilty, they should be punished. Locking people up in island prison camps for five years, then putting them before unfair military trials is not justice. And is not the way to protect our society against terrorism.

The National identity register will link all our information together, we will be charged to participate in this scheme and now the Government declares it will provide access to our record for a small consideration which incidentally goes into Government coffers. This is just another feature of the Government's plans to manage our identity, which to date we have managed to do perfectly well ourselves.

Four years on from the “shock and awe” invasion of Iraq, peace campaigners in Swindon, determined that this anniversary should not go unmarked, braved the bitter cold to hold vigils at the Cenotaph at lunch time and in the early evening.

RAW memories of the 2003 invasion of Iraq were brought back as anti-war campaigners held a vigil at Swindon's Cenotaph. Around half a dozen Stop the War Coalition members displayed placards in the town centre yesterday lunchtime to mark the fourth anniversary of the war.

SO, unless I pay the Government approximately my week's wages to have my personal details put on to a single central database (no database is secure) - and they will fine me yet more loads of money if I don't keep this data up to date within their time limits as my circumstances change - I am not allowed to have a passport and go abroad ever again whether for work or family emergencies. And this is a free country?

James Hall, the person in charge of the supposedly voluntary ID Card scheme, confirmed that if people wanted to opt out of the pervasive Identity Register that sits behind the innocuous ID card they must "forgo the ability" to have a travel document. So if you are one of the people who will not allow the Government to join all your personal details up in one dangerous database then it's simple - you just can't have a passport.

North Wiltshire MP James Gray, who supported the Prime Minister, said it was "quite wrong" to assume the country could lead the way by getting rid of weapons. He said: "It seems to me quite obvious that we are the good guys and they are not and therefore it is perfectly reasonable that we should have these weapons."

Mrs Snelgrove, the MP for South Swindon, said: "I have been considering the issue very carefully. I have spoken to a number of constituents about the subject and I have been to briefings with the Defence Secretary Des Browne. "Although we should show a clear commitment to arms reduction, from the time scales I am persuaded that the time is right to make this decision and I think people in Swindon will agree in us maintaining our nuclear deterrent." Mr Wills, the MP for north Swindon, said: "In these times of growing global uncertainty and concerns over security, I think it is important that we are able to protect ourselves against potential threats, and if we are to develop a new system for delivering that deterrent then we have to start now."

OUR boys are fighting for their lives in Iraq. Already 132 have lost that battle and 40 in Afghanistan. Now 1,600 combat troops are being pulled out of Iraq and 1,300 are then being sent to Afghanistan. What game of smoke and mirrors is this being played with the best fighting forces on this planet.

I WAS pleased to help organise the well attended, Whose Identity Is It anyway? meeting at the Pilgrim Centre. Members of the public heard arguments both for and against the compulsory registration of British citizens, and enrolment on to the National Identity Register. Finding supporters of the National Identity Register who will publicly support the scheme is difficult at the best of times, even more so now as the Government seems to be lurching from one Home Office crisis to another.

Regarding MP Anne Snelgrove's letter, (MP welcomes ID card debate, SA, February 13), I'd like to correct Anne's somewhat misleading statements about the Whose Identity Is It Anyway? public meeting held on Tuesday. Anne's invitation to speak at the meeting was extended to her on January 1, and declined by her office on January 8 because of a pre-existing engagement. On January 9, I wrote and asked whether she would be able to address the meeting if its date could be moved to February 16, then Anne confirmed she could attend the first 30 minutes of the original meet.

(From Anne Snelgrove MP). IN response to Simon Bridewell's letter, I did offer to attend the No2ID cards meeting on February 13 but could not stay for the whole debate, so the organisers felt it best I did not join in the panel.

I AM pleased to see that there will be a local discussion on the Government's plans for managing our identities (Whose Identity Is It Anyway?, 7.30pm, February 13, Pilgrim Centre). The Government's plans are far-reaching and we, the people, have had little chance to have our say on something that will impact on our lives in so many ways.

I HEAR that local politicians of all colours will be taking to the stage of the Pilgrim Centre on February 13 for a public discussion on the merits or otherwise of the Government's plans to enter all citizens into a central identity database.

The Government proposes to house the personal details of all children under 16 in one mega-database, the Children's Register. Every child in Britain will be exposed as a result of this ever-increasing database mania. That's every child of ours. If you are a celebrity, your child's details will not appear on this database, one presumes because the Government does not, in fact, believe the database is safe.

There can be no explanation for the existence of the NIR save that it serves as a means to record in ever-increasing detail, the activities of the entire population - and it is no coincidence that its inception comes at a time when technology is proving it can not only support such mass (multi-media) data storage, but progressively bring the cost down to near zero per capita.

Many thanks to all of you who have already got in touch about setting up a NO2ID group in your area or sent in petition forms following our declaration of 'ID-Day', 26th March 2007. The head of the UK Passport & Identity Service (UKIPS) has now confirmed on national radio that ID interrogation centres *will* be opening their doors for business around this time. We have just EIGHT weeks to spread the word.

I WAS disgusted to read that Tony Blair did not attend the day-long debate on the Iraq war in the House of Commons on Wednesday, January 24. How galling it must have been for our brave servicemen and women, who risk their lives daily for this unnecessary and illegal war, to read that he had considered a business meeting to be of more importance.

I read with some concern in the Swindon Advertiser that the BNP hopes to patrol the gates of Ridgeway School in an attempt to protect them. It is patently absurd. These people have no interest in the welfare of schoolchildren, their only interest is in advancing their own misguided ideas.

RACIST firebomber Mark Bulman has been jailed for five years after trying to torch the Broad Street mosque. The 22-year-old used a British National Party leaflet as a fuse in a petrol-filled beer bottle which he hurled through a window at the place of worship.