NO2ID

Is there anything in the way of that going on? Hanging banners off motorway bridges and on high buildings among other prominent public places. Or similar practices aside from just fly bannering...?

If anyone from Manchester NO2ID is thinking of pulling such a stunt i'd be glad to discuss it and do whatever i can to help.

I feel though, that if you were to do that, then we'd need to think very carefully about what exactly goes on the banner.

The public mindset is cynical down to its core. Just a huge copy of the logo "NO2ID - Stop ID Cards and the database state" could be percieved as a bit loony. Although accurate, it doesnt actually tell you a great deal as to why they should oppose it: it could easily be viewed as just a banner from a fringe pressure group. This could lead to ppl ignoring the issue and our name being tarnished. On the other hand, you can't be too extreme or inyaface as that could lead to similar alienation. Obviously it needs to become abundantly clear that the issue is very much one that will affect real people on practicle levels, not just the loony left or arts students defending a single abstract concept e.g. 'civil liberties' which is clearly weak in comparison to the alleged threats the government say ID cards and the NIR will prevent. I think that tragic misconception still runs deep.

Perhaps just single, direct captions highlighting various practical but less well known elements of the scheme?

'30 councils opposed to ID cards already - get yours to join.'

'£1000 fine for not returning your dead mother's ID card'

theres loads potentially..
(not the best examples by any means but stuff in a similar vein)

xx

Well it would be. No point in reinforcing that impression. And nowadays it would be illegal too. And it would be taken down quickly to very small effect.

Believe it or not it is actually more effective to do the sort of steady, dull, lobbying and support-building activities that pressure groups have always done than haphazard stunts. A simple letter in almost any local newspaper with "Anytown NO2ID" at the bottom, will be read by more people (in circumstances where they have a moment to think about it) than a potentially dangerous and certainly prosecutable banner over a motorway. Until we are not a fringe-pressure group in your area, but a visible organisation of real people and a familiar name in the local media, then such "guerilla warfare" is almost certainly futile and probably counterproductive. (Real guerillas operate from a social base, and democratic campaigns have to do the same.)

What's needed is means for people to find out more than they currently know and motivation for them to do so. Come across as nutters, and we undermine that. Make ourselves a communicative part of the community, and people will want to do so.

Lodging an address and telephone number (that someone will actually answer) for your group with the public library could be the biggest step you ever take in building support. Though while you are there, looking up the contact details of the dozens of clubs and societies you could be networking with has potential to be bigger, if followed up.

Big banners don't necessarily work, but maybe small stickers dotted around might - maybe a pair of eyes with a legend like "Big Brother supports ID cards" - you don't even need to attribute it.

Viral "marketing" to my mind can be quite effective - if everyone made a point all the time to say "interrogation centre" rather than "interview centre" and stuff like that, it gets lodged in the public consiousness. Once that name sticks, it'd be hard for the G'ment to get rid of it - and "interrogation centre" sounds a lot more sinister.

CF

Well, sitting around talking about doing such things isnt going to do ANYTHING, at least it would raise awareness.

I think the only way people are going to defeat this is to get as much attention as possible, and a bit of defiance.

SAY NO TO THE POLL (CROSSED OUT) IDENTITY TAX

Is the way foward.

It gets the point across!

Far too obscure

RE Guest "Far to obsecure"

Its far from obscure to anyone with half an ounce of intelligence.

The identity tax is new labours poll tax that caused the riots that brought down thatcher. [/b]

All very true, (except the potentially dangerous bit) but I think banner drops can be effective, letters pages, blogs and all the other ways of reaching people are equally limited in their own way.

Of course doing a banner drop off a table in the centre of town putting leaflets on the table and standing behind it is going to be more effective (if more time consuming) than one off a multi storey car park.

The fact a banner drop is illegal says more about the criminalisation of as much as possible by the current government than it does about effective protest.

Hand write across any £5 notes... (or others if you're minted).

NO2ID
Stop the database state.

It's cheap.

we can all afford a biro.
It circulates around.... so that hundreds could read it.

Write it around the edges of the £5 note....

So that shops and newsagents will pass the currency on - and more people will read the message

NO2ID
Stop the Police State

Is that an idea?

You could just write STOP the database state, without putting NO2ID on it, so that the government can't criticise NO2ID for defacing currency.

But the message is still getting out, in the public domain.

I like that idea...

Another thought I had is Twitter: Does anyone here have a Twitter account with a large number of 'followers'? A simple "Stop ID cards and the database state! www.no2id.net" could potentially reach a lot of people.

NO2ID has a twitter account, and several groups do too. You could advertise this to your followers on twitter:

http://twitter.com/no2id

defacing currency is illegal I think.

NO2ID does not have a twitter account. Someone calling themeselves NO2ID has a twitter account and is feeding our RSS to it. Which is great, but unofficial.

Defacing currency is illegal and a pointless waste of effort.

How about telling stories? These are three I came up with for my blog. Maybe we could write more (and better ones) and use them to get the ideas across:

I went to catch the train. Buying the ticket was easy - I didn't have to, as all I did was walk through the barrier, my National ID card and my Credit Card had been interrogated by contactless technology. The rescue services said it was much safer if they knew who was in which carriage when the train crashed.

As I walked into the shop my ID card registered my presence, and the CCTV checked it was me. Once or twice a week I get stopped by the security guards, they say it is my fault, because my beard causes more false negatives. The shop keepers say it has reduced shop lifting.

I get home to a message telling me that unless I walk more I will be deemed to have failed to keep my responsibilities to the State, and that the level of my health cover will be reduced. They promise that this will not impact emergency care, but that I will have lower priority in booking appointments. They list my travel over the past month, identifying 20 journeys that I could have walked rather than driven or taken the bus.

Some of the people at school are thinking about protesting without the right to protest. You know, posters saying "this is illegal" and "the government says we are forbidden to be here". After all, if they're mad enough to lock up a bunch of schoolkids (hopefully they're not) then there will at least be crazy quantities of publicity.