Resisting ID cards in the 1950s and 2000s

As mandatory government-issued ID cards are now back on the agenda, it is worth remembering previous campaigns against this happening.

Many years ago a Radical History Network meeting was held on the topic of opposition to ID cards in North London in 1950 - and how lessons could be learned to tackle the latest attempt by the New Labour government to bring them back. The talk by local historian David King was then published as a pamphlet by Past Tense, which is now out of print. The text of the pamphlet has recently been republished online at Libcom: https://libcom.org/article/opposition-id-cards-north-london-19502006-david-king

Libcom also hosts the following, which may be of interest:

• An archive of material by Defy-ID, a group set up in the 2000s to oppose the introduction of government ID cards. 
• Newsletters by Nottingham Defy-ID
• A reflective article by an anarchist involved with the Defy-ID network.
• Defending Anonymity - a 2006 pamphlet by the Anarchist Federation.