Originally Posted by
melmothtw
How exactly would ID cards prevent any of what is currently going on in the Channel?
Read the thread - ID cards make it harder to work in the black economy and get access to housing and healtcare, open bank accounts, get telephone contracts and all the other administration that is needed to make life viable and enjoyable.
In UK, people can easily live in the black economy - some estimates are that there are up to a million people in UK lliving illegally, working in the black economy (not paying tax or NI contributions) but lowering hourly wages for legal workers, and costing taxpayer money when they get ill and taken to hospital, or commit crime and are taken to prison.
You just can't do it so easily in France or elsewhere in EU, because we have to have ID cards. No ID means no bank account, no phone contract, no healthcare, no chance of legally working, no chance of legally renting.