Mark Oaten

Mark Oaten was Liberal Democrat MP for Winchester. Stood down in 2010.

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News

2007-05-30 - The Register - Gov. resists ID card scrutiny
Author: Mark Ballard
Summary: The Office of Government Commerce has appealed against an order by the Information Tribunal that it must publish official documents that assess the justification for the government's identity card scheme. ... Mark Oaten MP and Mark Dziecielewski, a security consultant allied to the No2ID campaign group, had both filed Freedom of Information Requests to get access to Gateway Reviews for the identity scheme. Both had been refused but the Information Tribunal found last month that there was a greater public interest in disclosing the gateway information than in keeping it secret.
2007-04-04 - BBC - A third 'will refuse ID checks'
Summary: One in three people are expected not to cooperate with identity card checks, Home Office papers from 2004 suggest. ... Lib Dem MP Mark Oaten had asked for the information to be made public when he was the party's home affairs spokesman in 2004. The department had resisted his request, which came under the Freedom of Information Act. But the department was ordered to release the data by the Information Commissioner - a decision which was subsequently backed by the Information Tribunal. ... Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Jeremy Browne said: "A major failing of ID cards is that it will cost billions of pounds to coerce law-abiding people into providing their details while those with genuinely malign intentions will strive to avoid complying with the authorities."
2006-06-12 - The Register - Commissioner overrules DWP on ID report
Summary: The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has ordered the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to publish a report on the risks and benefits of identity cards. In 2004, MP Mark Oaten called for the report to be published with commercially sensitive information removed. The DWP refused, claiming that releasing the information would make it harder to get value for money out of potential suppliers.
2006-01-30 - The Register - 'RFID tag' - the rude words ID card ministers won't say
Author: John Lettice
Summary: When it comes to RFID, is MP Andy Burnham lying or drowning? ... Last February, Immigration Minister Des Browne gave details of the chip for the passport in an answer to Mark Oaten: "The biometric passport will contain a radio frequency contactless integrated circuit that conforms to ISO 14443 in accordance with ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) recommendations on biometric travel documents. It will be a close proximity type chip that can only work within 0–2 cm from a reader."
2005-07-22 - The Register - UK Gov disaster recovery kit: belt, braces... brolly
Author: John Lettice
Summary: Home Secretary Charles Clarke has recently been claiming the new-look super-efficient Passport Service as a Government IT success, but it was not always thus, as Liberal Home Affairs spokesman Mark Oaten reminded him this week. Once upon a time, umbrellas were an essential component of the Passport Service's disaster recovery programme.
2005-06-29 - The Register - ID cards halve Labour majority
Author: John Oates
Summary: The UK's Labour government saw its majority cut from 67 to 31 last night in a vote on the controversial ID Card bill. Liberal Democrat spokesman Mark Oaten said the bill would haunt Blair like the Poll Tax haunted Thatcher.
2005-06-29 - BBC - MPs narrowly back ID cards plan
Summary: Ministers have won a Commons vote over their controversial ID cards plan but their majority was cut from 67 to 31. ... After the vote Liberal Democrat Mark Oaten said: "This identity tax will haunt Tony Blair in the same way the Poll Tax became Mrs Thatcher's legacy."
2005-04-15 - The Register - Tory backs down in political cybersquatting row
Author: Tim Richardson
Summary: The cybersquatting jiggery pokery that has thrust Winchester to the forefront of political dirty trickery appears to have been resolved. The Conservative's prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC), George Hollingbery, has now handed back the domain belonging to Lib Dem Mark Oaten, reports the BBC.
2005-04-13 - The Register - Political cybersquatting rears ugly head
Author: Tim Richardson
Summary: Political shenanigans have spilled over onto the web after the Tory candidate for Winchester hijacked a domain for Lib Dem MP Mark Oaten. George Hollingbery has snaffled up markoaten.co.uk (Oaten's real site is markoaten.com) directing traffic to his own site. Oaten's got the hump over the political dirty trick and called on the Tory to stop messing about.
2005-04-12 - BBC - 'Trick' election website blasted
Summary: Voters wanting to visit Winchester Lib Dem MP Mark Oaten's site by using markoaten.co.uk end up at Tory candidate George Hollingbery's site. Mr Oaten called on Mr Hollingbery to cancel the "trick", which he condemned as "pretty pathetic".
2005-02-03 - The Register - Parliamentary report flags ID scheme human rights issues
Author: John Lettice
Summary: Also on the human rights and freedom theme, the Office of Government Commerce has responded to Spy Blog's FOIA request for publication of its Gateway Reviews of the ID scheme saying it needs a further 15 working days "to consider the balance of public interest." Spy Blog notes that this takes any publication neatly beyond the Third Reading of the Bill in the Commons on 10th February. Coincidentally (?) Minister Paul Boateng recently replied to a question from LibDem Home Affairs spokesman Mark Oaten with: "I am currently reviewing whether there is any Gateway Review or other OGC review which should be published regarding the identity cards scheme and I will write to the hon. Member as soon as these considerations are complete." Which would perhaps be the week after next, Paul?
2005-01-19 - The Register - UK gov ready to u-turn on passport-ID card link?
Author: John Lettice
Summary: Mark Oaten also asked Browne "what arrangements he plans to make to allow British citizens living overseas to register for identity cards", and the answer is that there aren't any.
2004-10-27 - BBC - Blunkett changes ID card scheme
Summary: Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten suggested the biometric technology to be used on the cards was not as foolproof as the government claimed. He argued the money would be better spent on more police and better intelligence efforts against terrorism. Mr Oaten said the costs of the scheme for the public were going up the whole time. "You will have no choice but to spend £35 on a stand-alone ID card, on top of a £73 charge for the passport" he said.
2004-10-13 - The Register - Home Office seeks spin doctor to sell cuddly ID card brand
Author: John Lettice
Summary: The Home Office is hiring a head of spin in order to sell ID cards to the British public, despite the fact that it has not yet published the response to the "consultation" earlier this year, and has yet to put a bill before parliament, far less get parliament to pass it. Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesman Mark Oaten has cried foul to both the BBC and Telegraph, but while it's nice to see MPs starting to notice that the Home Office regards them as a tiresome formality, it's not exactly news.
2004-10-13 - BBC - Blunkett 'arrogant' over ID cards
Summary: Lib Dem spokesman Mark Oaten branded the government "arrogant" after it emerged the Home Office was advertising for a marketing manager.The Home Office said more needed to be done "to improve understanding" of the plans amongst the general public. Mr Oaten said: "I would like to remind the home secretary that ID cards are not universally popular." He added: "It's typical of this arrogant government to start employing people to promote ID cards before it has even been announced in the Queen's Speech, let alone debated in parliament."
2004-04-16 - The Register - Innocent Brits labelled as crooks
Author: John Leyden
Summary: Almost 200 Brits have been wrongly labelled as criminals because of mistakes in records. The errors emerged in a written response to a parliamentary question by Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesman Mark Oaten MP.
2003-12-08 - BBC - UK's child p0rn record under fire
Summary: UK authorities failed to take full advantage of a list they were given of child porn sites subscribers, Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten said.
2002-05-12 - BBC - Rock MP takes on music pirates
Summary: Liberal Democrat MP Mark Oaten said over-interference by the government would be the "kiss of death". Minor illegal internet downloading and CD-copying should be approached with a relaxed attitude, but a tough stance should be taken on organised piracy, he said.
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