UK Home Secretary to push ID cards plan

LONDON - New Home Secretary Charles Clarke says he is determined to introduce identity cards as part of the fight against terrorism, despite a possible rebellion from within his own party.

Writing in the Times on Monday, Clarke blasted critics of the proposals as being guilty of "liberal woolly thinking" and said ID cards would carry advantages beyond their use as a security tool.

Clarke faces a tough test when Members of Parliament debate the ID Cards Bill in what is expected to be a heated exchange.

"My commitment to the principle of ID cards is very strong and will not waver, mainly because I think that they will help to make everyone a bit safer, at no real cost to civil liberties," Clarke wrote.

"I believe some critics ... are guilty of liberal woolly thinking and spreading false fears when they wrongly claim that ID cards will erode civil liberties ... will usher in the "Big Brother" society".

The ID Cards Bill was introduced by former Home Secretary David Blunkett, who resigned last week over a scandal involving charges he abused his position to speed up a visa for the Filipina nanny of his former lover.

The cards have also divided the Conservatives, but party leader Michael Howard said the Tories would back the plans:

"I have listened to the police and security chiefs. They have told me that ID cards can and will help their efforts to protect the lives of British citizens against terrorist acts," Howard wrote in Monday's Daily Telegraph.

"The Conservative Party will vote for the Identity Cards Bill".

Clarke said the cards would also provide practical benefits, such as smoothing the process of opening a bank account or even renting a video.

Britain abolished ID cards more than 50 years ago but the Labour government plans to reintroduce them in 2007, after the next general election.

The cards, anathema to some civil liberties groups, are not expected to be made compulsory until about 2013.

- REUTERS