12 May 2010
ID cards, incomplete parts of the NHS Programme for IT (NPfIT) and a large portion of the police DNA database are likely to be heading for the scrapheap after David Cameron agreed to form a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats last night.
Tory leader David Cameron accepted a request from The Queen to attempt to form a government after it became clear incumbent Prime Minister Gordon Brown could not command a majority in the newly-elected Commons.
The incoming government, formed from a coalition of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, is committed to policies that include scrapping ID cards, with a question mark over the identity database needed for biometric passports.
Both parties are opposed to the automatic retention of all DNA data secured by the police from arrested suspects, with DNA from children and all those who are not prosecuted or found guilty removed from the database, with the exception of those suspected of serious violent or sexual crimes.
Huge cuts in public spending, which are now imminent, must include future expenditure on the NPfIT and other government computer systems such as the Interception Modernisation Programme and the National Identity Scheme.
There is now no prospect of a 50p per landline "telephone tax" to pay for the rapid expansion of high-speed broadband – the Tories have said they will use a portion of the BBC licence fee left over from the digital switchover to pay for this rollout.
However, the expansion of broadband was given higher billing by the Lib Dems than the Tories.
So, part of your TV Licence not spent updating to digital switchover is to be used for broadband upgrades? Surely that is a misappropriation. Personally, I don't have any internet connection at home because it is too far from the exchange, but I do have TV, so I am funding something I will not have for the foreseeable future. So wrong.
Posted by: Alan 14 May 2010
There are lots of spending cuts needed to get this country out of massive debt, as people will remember the last time Labour were in what happened we had massive discontent, strikes,large debts etc and its been the same with what supposed to have been new Labour, and one thing is for sure You cannot borrow to get out of debt as it will not work,and as regards to last week's fiasco, what needs to be done with the voting system is like they do else where,if ur old enough to vote,you go and vote by law or be fined,as in Australia,and out there,the police will pick u up and take u,I know they cannot make u put what u should on the voting paper but that dont matter,you will have voted,I hope he starts to get this country back on its feet,we have the dearest everything,fuel/electricty/gas etc,and who is pocketing the money,we pay for our electricty by pre pay key and the minute the season changes the minute the price changes,if i use £2s worth of electric today for the same time in the winter it will be £4,so something is terribly wrong
Posted by: Edgar Mills 13 May 2010
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