From the Telegraph:

“The British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa), which represents most of the country’s commercial pilots, said the Government’s “early warning system should be flashing” over its opposition to plans to force aviation workers be the first Britons to carry ID cards.

“Jim McAuslan, Balpa’s general secretary, said his members resented being treated as guinea pigs and added: “It may come to an industrial dispute.

“We would want to avoid that. We would want the Government to think again about the whole scheme,” he told The Independent.

“The Government insists that the cards must be fast-tracked to airport staff due to the importance of high security in their workplaces. The Home Office is preparing to unveil a plan to make staff at Manchester and London City airports sign up for an ID card before they can apply for security accreditation necessary for workers at the sites. Under the plans, ID cards will be issued to staff from next autumn.

“Mr McAuslan said: “The Government has said previously that ID cards will be voluntary, but the indications are that if you choose not to have a card, you will not get an airside pass.”

The Independent quotes Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Chris Huhne:

“It is no surprise that pilots are up in arms since they are one of the few groups selected as guinea pigs for this benighted experiment.”

You can sign the Liberal Democrats’ petition against ID cards here.

In the week that The Liverpool Daily Post reported that Merseyside Police have placed the details of a seven year old on the National DNA Database, we learn that more than a million of those registered on the national DNA database were still children when their details were added.

The Telegraph has this story:

“Official figures show that, since the DNA database was created, 1.07 million profiles of children have been added. This is nearly a quarter of the 4.4million profiles on the database. Anyone who comes into contact with the police, as an offender or a witness, can have a DNA sample taken for the database.

“Ministers and the police say the database is a vital tool in solving crimes, and has helped detectives crack major cases including murder and rape.

“A breakdown of the figures shows that the profiles of more 100,000 children had their DNA taken when they were under 13, and the profiles of more than half a million children were added to the database when they were aged between 13 and 15.

“In the past three years, 48,500 children under-13 and 204,666 children aged between 13 and 15 were added. The figures are far higher than previously thought as Government figures only estimate the number of children currently on the database. Official figures show that the profiles of 344,339 children have been included.”

Helen Wallace, from campaign group GeneWatch UK said, “The massive expansion of the DNA database treats hundred of thousands of young people as suspects for life. Their DNA could be used to track them or their relatives or to reveal private genetic information.”

Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Chris Huhne said that the Government are “making the world’s biggest DNA database by stealth.”

You can help our campaign to protect innocent people’s DNA by encouraging friends and family to sign our petition at http://ourcampaign.org.uk/dna