Originally Posted by
JoostvD
In the UK, people are not required to register with their council, are they? On the continent, I think virtually all governments require local citizen registration. The identity card seems almost natural coming from our local government. I mean it (as well as the passport) may be issued by the national government, but to get one, we go to local government office.
Not specifically required to register with the council, no. You are required to be on the electoral roll (if eligible - Commonwealth citizens, including British citizens, and other EU citizens) - enrolment is organised by the local council but on behalf of the Electoral Commission, whose only interest is the electoral roll as such. If you are a householder, you are required to pay council tax, but that's not really a registration in the sense that you mean. There is no single central register of where everyone lives, and of course some people could quite legitimately not be on any list at all.