5 ms·

Having just paid a small fortune to renew my passport. I'm not super excited about this, especially as I live outside the UK. I also don't trust them not to ma

Having just paid a small fortune to renew my passport. I'm not super excited about this, especially as I live outside the UK. I also don't trust them not to make a complete hash of all this, removing all potential utility while simultaneously increasing the chances of my ID being stolen. sigh

elcritch 1y ago
As an American it seems to me that the UK government insists on finding a way to upset all sides on any given issue like illegal immigration. If anything it's the singular and unique skill of Whitehall.
- 0xDEAFBEAD 1y ago
  A good compromise leaves everyone mad.
  - JumpCrisscross 1y ago
    A good compromise leaves everyone dissatisfied. A bad deal leaves everyone mad.
    - frollogaston 1y ago
      like IPv6
      - fruitworks 1y ago
        whats wrong with ipv6? other than square brackets
        frollogaston 1y ago
        Everything except for the part where the address space is bigger. We got a halfway migration now that everyone is angry about.
  - jufger 1y ago
    [dead]
- lvturner 1y ago
  To be fair though, complaining about 'things' is practically a British national sport.
- foldr 1y ago
  Don't be misled by the reaction on HN. The general concept of a national ID card is not unpopular in the UK: https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/trackers/support-for-the-introduction-of-a-system-of-national-identity-cards-in-the-uk https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/trackers/support-for-th... IMO this is a gimmick and probably won't have much effect either for good or bad. I would vote against it given the chance. But there aren't that many British people who feel especially strongly about this.
  - hayd 1y ago
    > I would vote against it given the chance. Unfortunately the British people are rarely given a chance to vote and even more rarely listened to.
    - foldr 1y ago
      In the last 10 years the UK has had 4 general elections and the Brexit referendum. Some countries have more local democracy (e.g. direct elections of DAs in the US), but in terms of opportunities to change the national government or influence national policy, I don't think the UK is doing too badly.
- cameronh90 1y ago
  It's more that the average Brit finds a way to be upset about everything any UK government does. Even just the test of the cell emergency alert system was met with fierce public criticism: what if people crash their car out of surprise?! But being critical of your leaders isn't the worst thing in the world. It's fairly bipartisan too; most of the people who voted for our current PM just a year ago now disapprove of him. A high level of public scrutiny on one's leaders' is probably quite effective at preventing totalitarianism. Whatever can be (often justifiably) said about our ineffective leadership, what we do have is a good track record for stability. However, sometimes it's really just cynicism for cynicism's sake.

elcritch 1y ago

As an American it seems to me that the UK government insists on finding a way to upset all sides on any given issue like illegal immigration. If anything it's the singular and unique skill of Whitehall.

0xDEAFBEAD 1y ago
A good compromise leaves everyone mad.
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago
  A good compromise leaves everyone dissatisfied. A bad deal leaves everyone mad.
  - frollogaston 1y ago
    like IPv6
    - fruitworks 1y ago
      whats wrong with ipv6? other than square brackets
      - frollogaston 1y ago
        Everything except for the part where the address space is bigger. We got a halfway migration now that everyone is angry about.
- jufger 1y ago
  [dead]
lvturner 1y ago
To be fair though, complaining about 'things' is practically a British national sport.
foldr 1y ago
Don't be misled by the reaction on HN. The general concept of a national ID card is not unpopular in the UK: https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/trackers/support-for-the-introduction-of-a-system-of-national-identity-cards-in-the-uk https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/trackers/support-for-th... IMO this is a gimmick and probably won't have much effect either for good or bad. I would vote against it given the chance. But there aren't that many British people who feel especially strongly about this.
- hayd 1y ago
  > I would vote against it given the chance. Unfortunately the British people are rarely given a chance to vote and even more rarely listened to.
  - foldr 1y ago
    In the last 10 years the UK has had 4 general elections and the Brexit referendum. Some countries have more local democracy (e.g. direct elections of DAs in the US), but in terms of opportunities to change the national government or influence national policy, I don't think the UK is doing too badly.
cameronh90 1y ago
It's more that the average Brit finds a way to be upset about everything any UK government does. Even just the test of the cell emergency alert system was met with fierce public criticism: what if people crash their car out of surprise?! But being critical of your leaders isn't the worst thing in the world. It's fairly bipartisan too; most of the people who voted for our current PM just a year ago now disapprove of him. A high level of public scrutiny on one's leaders' is probably quite effective at preventing totalitarianism. Whatever can be (often justifiably) said about our ineffective leadership, what we do have is a good track record for stability. However, sometimes it's really just cynicism for cynicism's sake.