Hannah Cann tells us why she loves political correctness.
Do you have swine flu? No. Do you know anybody who does have swine flu? Probably not. So what's all the fuss about?
Can't afford ethical clothing but can afford a night out at Ziggy's? Jennifer Heyes discusses where students' priorities should really lie.
Three of The Yorker's blogs team have had a hard think about what general rules they live their lives by and written them down in the form of their own Personal Philosophies.
Let me explain. I am rather short. But I’m over eighteen. I don’t mind getting carded. In fact, when the grumpy-looking bouncers grumble “Age ID, please” (the key word being please) I gladly produce my national ID card, a bemused smile sketching upon my face as they struggle with the odd-looking card and the French. And, in all fairness, French IDs look rubbish. I am ten years old on my black and white photo and the card is valid till 2009. Clearly, if it were a fake, I wouldn’t use a picture of myself aged ten. Unless I was really, really cunning.
In all fairness, French IDs look rubbish.
Nevertheless bouncers and bar staff have repeatedly expressed qualms about my card - including at The Charles where I was told “we can’t accept this driving license". (Why, yes, in France we do start driving at the age of ten!) Last month, the bar staff in town expressed similar anguish at accepting four European (two Dutch, two French) ID cards, and suggested that “it might be a better idea to have [our] passports".
As if, said an annoyed voice in my head.
But then the inevitable happened: I was refused entry at a pub in Birmingham, where the door-staff pointed to an A4 sheet of paper announcing, most courteously, that they could no longer accept foreign driver’s licenses and IDs and that only British IDs, British driver’s licenses, and passports would be accepted as valid forms of identification.
Now, let’s get this straight: EU nationals do not require passports to get into the UK - just their national identity card. That’s right, Britain may not be part of the Euro zone, but it is part of the European community and must abide by the treaty establishing it, articles 39-55 of which guarantee the free movement of persons, services and capital.
If an ethnic or religious minority is treated somehow differently, the red “discrimination/racism” flag is waved faster than you can say “paranoia". As we are dealing with “European” Judeo-Christians, the word rarely springs to mind. Yet, EU-nationals are meant to be treated like “home citizens” within any member state (“Such freedom of movement shall entail the abolition of any discrimination based on nationality” Article 39, sub-clause 2). Accepting British forms of identification whilst refusing European National IDs seems rather discriminative.
If I don’t need my passport to get into the country, why should I need it to get into a pub? “Wait a second,” I hear you interrupt, “with 27 countries in the EU, and their funny-looking cards, how are we meant to know if they’re fake or not?” There are several answers to this question, first of which being: “I don’t care.” Secondly, perhaps the problem might be remedied by training door staff (oh my, revolution!). And thirdly, the most commonly faked identification is the American driver’s license (refer to Superbad), which I do not claim should be accepted in the first place as I am dealing strictly with EU nationals. Everyone else, as far as I am aware, should have their passports handy with their Visa.
In any case, I can only express the hope that York’s – and the UK’s — multiculturalism (as well as proliferation of non-British forms of identification) might be celebrated rather than punished, by following fellow European member states that have chosen to do so: e.g. Parisian night clubs’ “Erasmus Nights”, which allow free entry to non-French students.
Thanks for this article. I spot a problem in one of your assumptions, however - the United Kingdom is not signatory to the Schengen treaty, and therefore our 'free movement' is somewhat limited - passports may be required when entering the UK. But we shouldn't have to bring them with us on a night out.
Additionally, this is in no way unique to the UK. In Belgium, driving licenses are not valid as identification (probably because theirs are made of paper) - instead foreign citizens must bring with them their residence permit (conveniently, made of paper) on a night out.
This rhymes with all the other inconsistencies in the EU project, including the fact that Belgium home of the EU Parliament (every second week) and EU Commission, doesn't have EU standard driving licenses, nor do they abide by the EU Charter of Human Rights (my Mother wasn't allowed to use her surname, but was forced to revert to her maiden name); and including the fact that the majority of EU nations do not have 112 as their emergency services number, although this was decided in the 90s.
That's my rant for the day.
I only applied for my provisional license when I was 20 so I understand the worry about taking a passport on a night out.
However, I also work in an off-license and have never been trained or instructed on how to identify the many different Europen ID cards. To me it doesn't seem feasible or sensible to have to learn how to spot a fake European card when they are seen so rarely. If I were caught selling alcohol to a minor with a faked European card I would be fined £2,000 - I'm not going to risk it.
If I was in a different country I wouldn't expect them to accept my driving license - taking your passport out isn't really that big a deal.
That's why they always say ROAR - Right Of Admission Refused, just to cover basically not letting you in for any god-damn reason they like.
While I was in Bristol last year, a Swedish friend of mine was turned away from several places because of her Swedish driving license, despite it being exactly the same as a UK one but with SE in the top left instead of UK.
The fines for these places admitting or serving under-age people are pretty monstrous, I know it's draconian and I don't condone it, but I can understand why they're so careful with anything unfamiliar.
@2 - you illustrate my point very well - there is an EU standard for driving licenses and National ID cards, just as there is with standards. the UK has adhered to this standard in issuing ID cards and licenses, but door staff around the UK aren't informed enough to know this.
You must log in to submit a comment.
Report