By Nick Heath, 6 May 2009 10:01
NEWS
Manchester will be the first place in the UK where the public can apply for an ID card.
From autumn, Mancunians will be able to volunteer for a card in a strategy to stagger the roll-out of the cards and readers across the UK.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said in a statement: "Manchester is leading the way with the delivery of the National Identity Service.
"Our next steps will be for other cities to follow Manchester's lead before full national coverage from 2012.
"This phased approach will ensure that card coverage occurs hand-in-hand with development of supporting technology such as chip and PIN readers."
The news received a mixed reception in Manchester, with Liberal Democrat John Leech, MP for Manchester, Withington, warning the government the pilot would be hamstrung by a lack of volunteers willing to pay £30 for a card.
"I have come across very few people who see the benefits of [ID cards] and even fewer people who will choose to spend money on ID cards at a time when the country is strapped for cash," he told silicon.com.
"There are other priorities that should be on the agenda other than ID cards at this time."
But Lord Peter Smith, chairman of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities, said he believes the city's residents would welcome a chance to get an ID card.
Across the UK people who are interested in applying for a card will be able to sign up via the Directgov website and receive information on when the cards are available in the area.
New airside workers and pilots at Manchester airport will also be required to get an ID card before starting their job from autumn.
Comments
There are 14 comments. Join the discussion
1. karen challinor
good luck with the roll out, the government has evidently forgotten what Manchester did with the congestion charge
the thought that a Mancunian would put hand in pocket to the tune of £30 and part with a life history plus every biometric up to their inside leg measurement for a glorified windscreen scraper that no one has a reader for is frankly ludicrous, Mancunians are not daft
you may get a few of the younger people signing this Faustian deal so they can have a flash card to get served in pubs without hassle but thats only going to last until someone makes a fake for a tenner
I mean how are you going to tell a fake from the real thing if you can't read the data on the real one ?
plus who is going to hand over £30 + life history + biometrics to a government with a life expectancy of less than a year when every other party, one of whom will be in office in a year definitely not labour, has vowed to scrap the scheme and thereby render the windscreen scraper you just lashed out £30 on even more useless
it's like the government knowing it's on the way out is determined to "raze the fields" and make life as difficult as possible for their replacements
for gods sake call a general election now
2. karen challinor
according to sky news it's going to be £60 for the card
£30 for a card and £30 for the shop to take your biometrics and life history
and I didn't think mancunians would part with £30, I definitely don't think they'll part with £60 for a voluntary card that no one can read
3. anonymous
"Manchester public will get first UK ID cards
But will they want it? "
Erm, No.
4. Richard Davies
Poor Manchester. £30 pounds for a card that is useless.
Anyone that signs up for one simply cannot understand what the issues are with this system.
I think that this is the governments last attempt to get at least some people on board.
I just hope that they don't get any takers.
5. Tim Jackson
Wouldn't it help encourage people to buy one if the government told us what we can do with it. (As opposed to us telling the government where they can stick it.)
Despite the vast amount of our taxes going into this thing, I still have now idea how it could benefit me personally, or even how and when I might use it. Oh it will reduce identity theft and illegal immigrants apparently. How my buying an ID card will achieve that has yet to be explained. Who is going to ask me to produce it and when? (Sadly I no longer look under 21.)
6. GALLEYSLAVE
Our Lords and Masters must think that the good citizens of Manchester are daft with their money.
To the best of my knowledge this is not the case!
7. micropixel
hmmm interesting choice of venue.manchester should quickly establish the street value of an id card given the average crime levels! now lets see we can cancel a stolen credit card... how does this ID thingey work then ? what ..? oh i see it doesn't. er , what happens next then ? ah depends on who you are ? villain or victim ? sorry I forgot nobody really cares
8. Jeremy Wickins
I don't see the many of the canny folk of Manchester spending £60 for the local chemist to screw up the process!
9. Ollie Clark
Why would anyone pay for an ID card when it is of absolutely no benefit to them at all?
The only function the Direct Gov website claims they have is for verifying ID and you can already do that with a passport or driving license.
10. Julia
I feel really sorry for you, people of Britain.
and especially for mancunians.
hope this id cards story wont touch russia. at least in the nearest 10 yrs.
11. Thomas
Is this really worthless, the answer is no. We are sadly living in a time where identity checks are crucial.
Yes we can use existing passports or Driving Licences for identification. Yes we can travel in europe on our passports.
But, what if we could travel in europe with a card, no passport to loose, and note one incorrect visa stamp or correction can render a passport invalid.
Do you want to carry a £30 card to open or access accounts, benefits payments, etc., or risk loosing a £80 +- passport and or supporting documents?
This is not big brother watching you scenario, it is both practical, and universal, rem IDF cards have been in Europe for years, and America has had Passport Cards in place of Passports for a number of years too.
Wake up to reality the only people with an objection to national identity are those with something truely to hide!
12. Joe Whitehead
Sorry... Can't stop laughing at the last line in the last comment. The issue is not the IDs - it's the paranoid amount of data on them and the lack of concern for the average Joe when there's a a screwup. I guess if I went in their house and started putting up cameras everywhere, including the bedrooms and bathrooms, they'd not object because they have nothing to hide? Hmm, OK.
13. karen challinor
yeah thomas, if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear, you tell us how it is
except mistakes, incompetence, indifference and/or corruption in those that issue and administer the system
tell me how a £30 piece of plastic will shield me from those
and please don't tell me it can't happen
one incorrect entry can lose someone their entire lifes work
family, friends, home and career up the swanny because of a typo in a database that you as the cardholder and owner of the information do not have access to
and by the time you get someone else to sort it all out for you, assuming you can convince them of the mistake and bearing in mind you won't know where or what the mistake is, it's all gone
and people being people, some will be thinking there's no smoke without fire, so you will never ever get back everything you lost
now the chances are this won't happen to you, but there's a good chance it will happen to someone and all because you want the convenience
then we get to the argument of why do I have to put hand in pocket because you want a cheaper form if ID than a passport to go abroad with just in case you lose it
go away and come back when you have an argument that stands up
14. Ask Jacky
By the Autumn, I wouldn't guarantee that the Party of Personal Spying & Surveillance which wants to implement ID cards will still be in power either - so