Daily Archives: May 21, 2017

Britain, Government, Society, Technology

DVLA confirms development of electronic driving licence

DIGITAL DRIVING LICENCE

phone-driving-licence

                                                 Digital driving licences will soon become a feature on smart phones.

Mobile phones and driving make an awkward combination – it is illegal to use a phone while driving – but, the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency (DVLA) is planning to bring the two closer together with the introduction of digital driving licences.

It’s thought digital licences would be stored in phones’ virtual ‘wallets’, just as credit and debit cards can already be saved. When asked to present their driving licence by a police officer or official, a quick finger or thumbprint would release the licence to the phone’s display.

Oliver Morley, the DVLA’s CEO, said the organisation was making “good progress” with the prototype digital licence back in December 2016, while in March 2017 he confirmed the idea was “included in the government digital strategy.” When asked on social media whether there was a timeframe for the introduction of digital licences, Mr Morley said there was, but he wouldn’t be drawn on precisely when this would be.

Security will be a key priority for the digital licence, but given the development and success Apple and Android Pay have enjoyed, it’s thought some of the DVLA’s work has already been done for it. A service analyst and mobile device expert for Auto Express, said: “Security has taken a significant step forward to support digital payments on phones, so the framework is in place for other secure applications, such as a digital driving licence.”

Even with established and rigorous security paradigms in place, however, there will still be people who don’t like the idea of storing their driving licence on their phone, as well as those who don’t even own a smartphone capable of doing so. For those individuals, reassurance will be found in the fact that when it arrives, the digital driving licence will act as an “add-on.”

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Britain, Government, Politics, Society

The Conservative Party manifesto leaves us little wiser

GENERAL ELECTION 2017

During this election, Theresa May has conducted such an anodyne campaign that there was an earlier suspicion that she may have felt she could get away with not presenting a manifesto. After all, did she really need too? Riding high in all opinion polls, and with the Labour Party in no proper or fit state to present a genuine challenge, she has been able to glide through on soundbites and rhetoric. Why risk inviting trouble?

In the last few days, that manifesto was delivered. There is little in its pages that really rocks the boat. There is little about Brexit, other than a few broad details we are already aware of. Considering that this snap election was called purely because Mrs May wanted Brexit negotiations to be done her way, the lack of clarity is disappointing if unsurprising.

Whilst not entirely risk-free from voter desertion, the elderly will have good reason to feel hard done by. The triple lock on pensions will no longer be guaranteed, and worryingly for those in England and Wales, a greater proportion of the cost of social care is being passed on to individuals. Many will fear the loss of their home and other capital assets in paying for it.

Aside from that, Mrs May has pledged a ‘mainstream government that would deliver for mainstream Britain’, a slogan which appears accurate for a set of proposals which aren’t too far off centre. It is here where she is likely to succeed in securing victory on June 8, by deliberately moving into the area Labour had to occupy to get Tony Blair into Downing Street (just as Labour under Jeremy Corbyn vacate the middle ground to set up camp on the far left).

The stance taken by the prime minister represents astute politics, and much the same can be said of her handling of the Scottish Government’s request for a second independence referendum. Again, Mrs May plays the ‘now is not the time card’ which kicks another ballot anytime soon into the long grass. No doubt she will try to avoid the matter until after the next Holyrood elections – in the hope that, by that time, the SNP will not be in a position to call a referendum. It’s hard and timely politics at work.

If Mrs May’s advisers can keep her out of trouble, the manifesto should be enough to secure the majority she seeks. By aiming for the middle ground, she has started a process of countering the Tories ‘nasty party’ image. Yet, this manifesto tells us very little about what life will be like under Mrs May, because our future will be determined by Brexit. Until we know what that is, we cannot really judge on whether the Conservative Party has changed for the good.

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