…all your bits and pieces, too! I couldn’t resist that (ZZ Top, if anyone’s wondering).
The Daily Mail reports that from tomorrow (Sunday?) you can’t get a new driving licence unless you declare whether you will donate your organs or not.
Apparently, critics reckon it is a first step to organ donation becoming compulsory.
I can’t really see what the big deal is. The question has always been there, so now you have to answer it – otherwise it’s the same as not filling in your surname or something: it is void and won’t be processed. The article reckons people often left it blank or “missed it”.
Somehow, it has become a big political issue. Tory MP Peter Bone manages to bamboozle with this statement:
I don’t remember this being discussed in Parliament and what they are saying is, “We’re going to stop you getting something you’re entitled to and ask you about something which is not relevant at all to what you’re applying for”…
It doesn’t apply to everyone. I may not need a new licence, so I won’t answer the question. It’s Big State gone mad.
Uh-huh! But anyway, if ever I see the question on a form, I just fill it in. Easy, really.
Update: Mind you, I’m not convinced by the London Evening Standard’s attempts to associate the issue with the war on Iraq or Libya! A little OTT, I think.
I think it’s up to ME to decide whether I donate my organs or not. Not the London Evening Standard, or anyone else.
Also covered by Sky News, and The Guardian.