December
7, 1950
National Registration Act
On 7 December 1950, Harry Willcock, a 54-year-old dry-cleaning manager, was stopped while driving in Finchley, London, by police constable Harold Muckle, who demanded that Willcock present his identity card at a police station within 48 hours. He refused, reportedly saying "I am a Liberal and I am against this sort of thing". He was prosecuted under the National Registration Act 1939, convicted and fined 10 shillings. During his trial he argued that identity cards had no place in peace time.
Compulsory identity cards
were first issued in the United Kingdom during World War I, and abandoned in
1919. Cards were re-introduced during World War II under the National
Registration Act 1939, but were abandoned seven years after the end of that
war, in 1952, amid widespread public resentment. The National Register however,
became the National Health Service Register and is maintained to this day.
After the defeat of the Labor Government in the general election of October 1951, the incoming
Conservative administration of Winston Churchill was pledged to get rid of the
scheme; 'to set the people free', in the words of one minister. On 21 February
1952 the Minister for Health, Harry Crookshank, announced in the House of
Commons that national identity cards were to be scrapped. This was a popular
move, adopted against the wishes of the police and the security services.
Born in 1950?
Then
congratulations for turning 65 and entering the world of Medicare. If you
would like to know more about the maze we call Medicare …
