By Andy McCue, 24 June 2005 14:15
NEWS Rebel Labour MPs have warned the government they will unite to vote the ID card bill down at the second reading on 28 June unless concessions are made.
As more details on the cost of the scheme emerge, alongside increasing doubts about the reliability of the proposed biometric technology, support for ID cards has dropped among MPs and the general public.
Some 20 rebel Labour MPs in the left-wing Campaign Group - led by MP John McDonnell who is backing silicon.com's ID cards campaign - have signed an amendment to the bill claiming ID cards will not tackle terrorism or illegal working and that there are not enough safeguards for the personal information that will be stored in the national identity database.
That still leaves rebels needing another 14 Labour MPs to vote against the party whip and join Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs, if Prime Minister Tony Blair's majority of 68 is to be overturned and the ID cards bill defeated.
But the rebels claim an unconvincing performance by Home Secretary Charles Clarke when fielding questions from Labour MPs at a private meeting on ID cards earlier this month has resulted in more MPs turning against the bill.
In addition to the political pressure, the government is preparing itself for another public backlash to the ID card scheme ahead of the vote when the London School of Economics (LSE) finally releases its full report on Monday claiming the project will cost up to £18bn - triple current government estimates. An ICM poll earlier this month has already revealed a massive drop in public support for ID cards.
Clarke dismissed LSE academics as "simply mad" last week but the report is expected to detail how the government has failed to factor into its estimates the costs that will be borne by local authorities and councils to make their systems work with the ID cards.
Conservative Shadow Home Secretary David Davis told silicon.com on the launch of our ID cards campaign that this extra cost will result in higher council taxes and said it could end up becoming "Labour's poll tax".
All this comes on the back of Metropolitan police chief Sir Ian Blair questioning whether the technology proposed for ID cards will work, and a national petition by the No2ID opposition group that aims to collect 10,000 pledges not to register for ID cards or obstruct the registration process if the bill is passed.
Comments
There are 9 comments. Join the discussion
1. Simon Scott
I suspect Clarke is going to regret saying the £300 figure is mad. Although the LSE have stated they make no "unit cost" for cards and that the three-hundred pound figure has been calculated by journalists dividing the £18b by the British population, Private Eye have reported that the Passport Office has been working from a figure of £300 per card for some time. If this is further substantiated before the vote, it'll show up Clarke as totally incompetent.
2. anonymous
To quote a previous correspondent, "show Clarke up to be incompetent".
From their record, including that of Tony, blah, blah, Blair.
Incompetence, incompetence, incompetence, is the only thing that him & his cronies are good/bad at.
Along with corruption, lying, (spinning), etc, (ad infinitum)
With an excessive desire to control every minute aspect of our lives.
Scary isn't it..............????
3. Tony T
Passports, Driving licences etc. can already be forged.
ID cards will also be able to be forged but the difference here is that the data on the card cannot be verified as there is no way to check the information.
Can the Government guarantee that your personal data is safe. What's to stop the people making the cards (the originals) from being bribed or blackmailed into making cards for gangsters, mafia and terrorists.
This whole idea is so full of flaws its laughable. The criminals in our society will have a free reign to come and go as they please.
Save the taxpayers money and just employ some more police officers.
4. Roger Huffadine
If the Inland Revenue get their way and make EDS pay back all of the 'write off' from the Tax Credit debacle - then they will need this lucrative contract to recover the money.
Forget that the technology won't work.
Forget the problems and huge costs from 'false positives' when the database is finally installed.
Remember that government ministers and senior civil servants need jobs with EDS once they 'retire'.
Remember that a seat in parliament has nothing to do with serving the best interests of your constituents - its all about towing the party line and bullshitting your way to a pension.
5. Simon Bazley
Thats a tad harsh.
This ID Cards issue is a classic example of the general public (I include MPs in this) not really understanding IT, and politicians finding an issue that they can bandy about, when really they have an alterior motive.
The Government should have the balls to admin this whole project is entirely about benefit fraud, but there would be a riot if they just said all benefit seekers must be fingerprinted and iris scanned.
If the government really wanted to solve the problem they would just enhance the new Photo Driving license and insist all non drivers over 16 have the same card, but a different colour. Then it would be the governments problem to monitor and track the magic number on the card, and would be based on a working system rather than a completely new one.
If you have to ask if the Government either a) have no idea about the technology conscerned b) are just plain stupid, or c) are intentionally doing something that appears stupid, the answer is normally (c) with an alterior motive in the wings.
6. Chris Nixon
As far as the cost of these b****y cards, is anybody in their right minds EVER going to believe a government estimate of cost after the total fiasco that they have made of controlling and costing every IT project that they have undertaken. I would guess that the LSE figures are FAR more accurate than anything that the government could ever come up with.
7. Bill Citrine
There's rumours that the data collected via these cards (and we still arn't being told exactly what data will be collected) will be offered for sale to selected private companies to help fund this crazy scheme...
...of course this has been rubbished by Noddy and Big Ears
8. anonymous
If 90 to 95% of population agree to be finger printed then presumably the scheme can be considered a success compared with say train timetable punctuality targets. However, what are we going to do with the probable 5 to 10 percent (perhaps more if the Silicon.com readers are anything to go by) who refuse? Presumably they will not be allowed to roam freely.
Imprison between 2 to 5 million people?
As this unlikely to be feasible, the alternative could be that they can remain in the UK as long as they are electronically tagged. Another idea following on from this would be to tag all short term visitors such as tourists and business people for the duration of their stay.
Such initiatives would not only keep IT companies in business thereby funding MPs’ pensions but also might find a home for the car tracking/charging scheme that was considered utter madness and complete nonsense by the public.
9. Mike Bibby
Heard Tony telling the same old Blunket lies on the new last night.
Just one example:-
"ID cards will help people get a job or open bank accounts" - means "I will pass legislation to STOP you opening a bank account or get a job without an ID card, but of course its voluntary".
By the way I notice he's eased off on the "stop terrorism" lie after someone noticed that immigrants are specifically excluded from needing an ID card for the first 30/90 day and illegal immigrants will never get one anyway