UK government re-introduces ID cards bill

LONDON - Britain's government has re-introduced a controversial bill to bring in identity cards, legislation that had to be put aside earlier this year when Prime Minister Tony Blair called the May 5 election.

The government says the cards, which would contain biometric data, would help stop identity theft, which costs about 1.3 billion pounds a year.

Urging MPs to back the scheme, Mr Blair said: "The abuse of identity actually costs this country billions of pounds a year. We have the new biometric technology. We have in any event to move to new biometric passports as a part of other changes happening around the world."

The government also argues ID cards would help track terrorism, illegal immigration and organised crime.

"Across the world there is a drive to increase the security of identity documents, to safeguard borders and reduce threats from overseas," said junior Home Office minister Tony McNulty.

"The plans set out today will ensure the UK is at the forefront of that drive," he added.

But critics, including some Labour members of parliament, say cards pose a dangerous threat to civil liberties.

They argue the scheme is too costly, especially as it is still unclear how effective ID cards will be in tackling crime and terrorism.

The Home Office has also revealed results of a pilot project, during which the fingerprints of 10,000 volunteers were taken along with a digital scan of their faces and pictures of their irises. All three biometric "identifiers" are likely to be included on the cards.

The project discovered the facial verification system - which measures the distance between features - took satisfactory images in 69 per cent of cases. Fingerprint verification was successful in 81 per cent of the sample. Iris verification worked in 96 per cent of trials, although there was a lower success rate for black people and older people.

But ministers stressed the trials were not testing the technology that would transfer the images to a national database.

Critics complained that the legislation left many important questions unanswered - particularly over the technology used to store records of fingerprints, irises and faces - and warned the cost of running the scheme was rapidly rising.

"The horrendous economic costs of the ID card scheme are clear; the social costs will be with us for decades," said Shami Chakrabarti, director of human rights group Liberty.

The ID card Bill ran out of time before the election in the face of entrenched opposition in the Lords and, with Labour's reduced majority, it could run into trouble in the Commons.



Labour left-wingers could block the plans if enough of them join forces with the opposition parties.

When former Home Secretary David Blunkett introduced the original bill in the last parliament it sparked a Labour revolt.

The Home Office has made only minor changes to the bill, including giving more powers to the watchdog, the ID Cards Commissioner who will oversee the scheme, and limiting access to the national identity register.

The Liberal Democrats oppose ID cards and although Conservative leader Michael Howard has backed the idea, he is stepping down.

David Davis, the shadow Home Secretary and a favourite to replace Howard, has said he would not recommend the legislation in its current form to Conservative MPs.

The Tories initially voted for ID card legislation, but later abstained in a key Commons vote.

Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, met potential Labour rebels last night in an attempt to reassure them that the scheme would be foolproof against abuse.

But Mark Oaten, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said the cost of the scheme was spiralling "out of control".

He said: "Support for these plans will drop off very quickly when people realise the costs involved. The failure rates in the biometrics pilot are astonishing. The Government is spending our money on a half-baked scheme, based on half-baked technology."

David Davis, the shadow Home Secretary, said: "When the ID Cards Bill was introduced before the election, we decided it would be right to give the Government the opportunity to meet the concerns we raised. They have had six months to do so but today said the Bill was, in essence, the same one as before."

The cards will not be compulsory and police will not have the power to demand to see a card.

The Bill will receive its second reading next month.

- INDEPENDENT and REUTERS