Don't Brits carry photo ID??

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I think of Britain as being more regulated than the good ole USA, but I might be wrong. I was watching an episode of Sherlock, the 2010 BBC series. The bad guys have snatched Watson, but think he’s Holmes because Holmes loaned Watson his ATM card, and Watson put in his own wallet a cheque that Holmes left because Holmes cares more about the case than the money.

I immediately thought “Doesn’t Watson have a driver’s license, a veterans benefits card, a national health card, SOMETHING with his picture on it??” I cannot imagine an adult American leaving home without a photo ID. You can’t drive, or cash a check, or pay for expensive things on credit card, or go to the doctor or anything.

Is it typical of Brits, or Londoners, to NOT have photo ID on them at all times? I would have thought the same Britain that covers George Orwell’s house with surveillance cameras would require everyone to have photo ID, but I haven’t been there so I don’t know. Can Dopers from/in GB help an ignorant 'Murrican out?

2

Photo ID with driving licenses were only introduced in 1998, Previously it was on a fairly large sheet of paper, which is now referred to the Counterpart license.

The closest we have to a health card is our National insurance card, which typically only contains our National Insurance number.

Living in London, where public transport is easily available to most areas, I can see there being little wrong with not having some form of photographic ID outside of a passport.

3

Most Brits might well carry some form of photo ID at all times, but it’s not a given - if you need one when you’re going to an interview or examination or something of the sort, you’ll generally be given written notice to bring it.

4

Healthcare doesn’t require ID, getting your military pension probably won’t require photo ID, and lots of people don’t have a driving licence, or if they do don’t carry it with them. You don’t generally even need it with you to drive, as long as you can produce it for the police within a reasonable time if they ask.

5

There’s no mandatory national photo ID. Passports have photos in them, but those are optional if you’re not travelling abroad.

There’s a national photo ID scheme for students, but again, that’s optional.

I have photo ID with me on work days, because my work ID/door pass has my photo on it - and my rail season ticket has an accompanying photo ID card.

In general though, it’s not at all unusual for a UK citizen to have no form of ID (photo or otherwise) on their person, and there is no legal requirement for them to do so.

AFAIK, the photo card licence is still optional - I hope so, as I only have the paper one.

6

Wow! I would not have expected that.

7

I don’t carry any. The only British photo IDs I have are my passport and my driving license. I might carry the latter, but when I got it there were instructions that the “counterpart”, which is a fairly large sheet of thick paper, must be kept with it at all times. As I do not want to carry the counterpart, I do not carry the license card either. In Britain, if you are stopped by the police when driving you are not legally required to produce your license on the spot, although if you do not have it, you are required to produce it at a police station within a few days.

I do not understand the reasons for the rule about the “Counterpart”, mind you, and if it were not for the explicit instructions to keep them together, I would certainly carry the driving license. But no-one has ever actually asked to see it.

I carry my chip and pin debit card to pay for stuff, and that has my name on it, but no photo.

In the 20 months or so I have been living back in Britain, I have never been asked for, or felt a need for, photo ID, except when I first opened a bank account, when I used my passport.* What I have been asked for, on a couple of occasions, is a utility (gas, electric, or water) bill that has been mailed to me, as proof of address. This was a problem when I first arrived back here from the US because one bank refused to let me open an account, even though I had money to put into it, and photo ID (British passport), but not a utility bill (:confused::(). (At that point I had only been back in the country a few days, and, in any case, did not yet have my own place and was staying with my cousin. Furthermore, it would probably have been very hard to get a place of my own to live, or, indeed, set up an account with a utility company,without a bank account.) The problem was solved, however, by going to a different bank, across the street, where they were less assholish.

Anyway, although Britain may be regulated more than the USA in some ways, on the whole I think it is fair to say (having lived for 20 years in the USA) that British people have less bureaucratic paperwork (both governmental and private) to deal with than do Americans. This is certainly very much the case with the health care system, but also, I think, income tax and other things too. We do not have to spend so much time filling out forms (or sorting out bureaucratic snafus) as Americans do.

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*Perhaps I also had to show my passport when I first went to a doctor and re-established my standing with the National Health system. I can’t remember for sure now.

8

Apart from my passport and my work pass, I possess absolutely no photo ID. I’ve been asked for it at times (was ID’d yesterday for a bottle of wine), but it’s rarely a problem.

9

I’m on a course at the moment, which includes a first aid module- we were asked to bring a photo ID in for the module, and of the 9 people there, owned no photo ID at all, and one had only a passport, which was currently at the passport office being altered.

I do actually carry my photo driving licence with me, but mainly because I occasionally still get age checked buying alcohol. There is no obligation to carry it even when driving, only to be able to produce it within (IIRC) 7 days. I have tested that by crashing while not carrying my licence.

10

This stuff about the UK being covered by a sinister network of surveillance cameras seems to be a popular idea in some parts, but it’s an exaggeration. I don’t know if there are an unusually high number of cameras, but the point is there’s no great coordinated network. Most of them are private security cameras operated by or on behalf of the people who own the premises, not the secret police.

11

As long as it was issued before 1998, and you’ve not had any reason for it to be re-issued, it’s fully optional until you reach 70.

12

Another Brit here. I have work photo ID but the only official photo ID I have is my passport and I certainly don’t carry that with me. My driving licence is so old I don’t have the photo version!

The point about generally less paperwork is interesting. Certainly most Brita don’t fill in an annual tax form. If your in regular employment tax is handled entirely by the employer.

13

The previous UK government did actually start to implement a national ID scheme, but is was widely opposed on grounds such as individual liberty and privacy and was immediately scrapped by the present government.

14

Yes, this is important. Whether or not one agrees with the proliferation of CCTV cameras, there isn’t some Big Brother figure sitting there monitoring everything that happens in the whole country.

So well, I usually do have my driving licence on me because it lives in my wallet. If I didn’t have a driving licence (and, as noted, plenty of British folks don’t) then I wouldn’t carry any photo ID at all. When I was younger I would always make sure I had ID for buying alcohol, but sadly that’s not an issue any more.

15

Is (photo) ID required to be carried by US citizens or immigrants at all times? I was under the impression that US citizens do not have to carry ID with them. As a Canadian citizen, I rarely carry ID with me when I am in Canada.

16

No, not required. However, state-issued ID is generally required for age-restricted purchases like tobacco and alcohol or adult films, driving privileges, air travel, voting (this varies), some banking situations, pawnshop sales, renting a vehicle. I’ve been asked for ID at a number of corporate checkpoints and reception desks I’ve visited professionally like sensitive R&D facilities, factories and warehouses.

17

As a Brit I was floored when I first came over to the USA and needed photo ID for everything.

As a recent Greencard holder aka US permenant resident I was explicitly told that I needed to carry my Greencard with me at all times. So I do. Not sure on the rules for everyone else.

18

I hate this rule. I too am a permanent resident, and it makes me very nervous to carry around this valuable little document/piece of plastic. If I were to somehow lose my wallet or get mugged it would cost me $400 to replace!

19

Dammit sticky 3 button, 3 people there did not own any photo ID at all (neither did my ex, incidently).

20

I’m also asked for ID at times when I’m using my debit card in credit mode, and was asked for it when looking at prospective apartments.