By Tim Ferguson, 1 July 2009 17:41
NEWS
The government has been slammed over its decision to press ahead with the national ID card scheme following Home Secretary Alan Johnson's announcement that carrying an ID card will never be compulsory for British citizens.
Plans to make ID cards compulsory for airside workers and pilots have also been dropped this week by the Home Office with trials planned for Manchester and London City airports both scrapped.
The ID card scheme will remain compulsory for foreign nationals from outside the European Economic Area however and the Home Secretary has asked the UK Border Agency to review the rollout so far and identify how it could be accelerated. The UK Border Agency has now issued more than 50,000 ID cards to foreign nationals.
Johnson also announced yesterday the government still plans to roll the scheme out in Greater Manchester on a voluntary basis and will also extend it across the North-West region early in 2010.
The government's decision to keep the scheme on a voluntary basis for British citizens has prompted many to question its future.
The Conservative Party has already said it would scrap the ID card scheme if it wins the next general election and shadow home secretary, Chris Grayling, said the decision by the government not to make ID cards compulsory makes the scheme "even more of a white elephant", and that spending millions on a scheme such as this "makes no sense at all".
Grayling questioned the point of the scheme without the compulsory element, saying in a statement: "[The government has] spent millions on the scheme so far. The Home Secretary thinks it has been a waste and wants to scrap it, but the Prime Minister won't let him. So we end up with an absurd fudge instead."
"This is a project that nobody wants and the nation can't afford," he added.
The Liberal Democrat shadow home secretary, Chris Huhne, said that the "expensive and intrusive plans should be ditched now" with the money being spent on something that could actually fight crime and terrorism such as more police on the street.
"This is another nail in the coffin for the government's illiberal ID cards policy, which will soon be so voluntary that only Home Office mandarins seeking promotion will have them," he said in a statement.
However, some feel that it remains unlikely that the current government will abandon the project completely.
Ian Angell, professor of information systems at the London School of Economics, told silicon.com: "This isn't a cancellation exercise, it's treading water. [The government] can't scrap it because too much credibility is tied up in it. This is trying to keep the whole thing alive at a minimum cost."
"One of these days and they're going to wake up to the fact that it's a complete waste of time and money and they're going to have to cut back on every project in order to stop this country sliding into complete meltdown," he added.
While the government may have decided to drop the compulsory element of the scheme, it's still hoping to encourage UK citizens to sign up voluntarily by promoting potential uses of the card, such as for travel within Europe in place of a passport and confirming identity, for age verification for example.
"The benefits are not just for individuals but also for communities where a reliable proof of age will be invaluable in the fight against underage drinking and young people trying to buy knives. But at the same time, these cards will benefit young people who, on average, have to prove their age more than twice as often as adults and I want to make that process simple and secure," Home Secretary Alan Johnson said yesterday.
But it seems retailers aren't convinced about the value of the ID card scheme for age verification.
A British Retail Consortium (BRC) spokesman told silicon.com: "Retailers are thoroughly unconvinced of...
Comments
There are 10 comments. Join the discussion
1. Tim Jackson
Buy an ID card today! In 20 years' time it will be a collector's item.
2. karen challinor
"The identity card project's costs have become increasingly opaque following the creation of the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) in 2006. After its formation, the government has rolled up ID card costs with those attached to biometric passports as it says tech infrastructure and operational processes for the two projects can be shared, making it therefore impossible to break out expenditure for ID cards alone"
also it makes removing the ID card scheme and the national information register a lot harder
it's tying the hands of future governments to keep the scheme in place by making it extremely expensive to get rid of
so when the day arrives that Labour get a majority in a general election and can steamroller anything they like through again then the ID card will once more raise it's ugly head only this time it will be compulsory from day one
3. Simon
Beware the political promise !
The current home sec has only said it won't ever be compulsory - it's not being scrapped, it's not being scaled down in any way. We already know that in NewLabSpeak "not compulsory" only means that if you are prepared to go without the various services they intend to make reliant on it, then you can get by without it.
The legislation is still in place to allow it's use to be made "optional but required" for any purpose without so much as a word to parliament, and certainly no opportunity to debate or vote on the imposition.
They'll just be more careful with their target next, instead of picking on airline pilots who could make a very public issue out of it if they strike.
But it's still a welcome move, yet another nail in their coffin and hopefully the other lot won't be 'quite' as bad when they get in.
4. Matt H
I'm sorry, did I just read the last two parapgraphs correctly?! How much has been spent?! On what exactly?!
Considering the Government have been quick to attack the Banks for not managing money properly, they then end up having to confess about their own expenses, and now we hear how much they throwing away on a mad-cap scheme like this?! Really? When will this all end? Why are the Government not being thrown out with a Vote of COMPLETE NO CONFIDENCE?? Send Brown back to Scotland and get someone who knows what they're doing in charge! This country needs a revolution! Before we're all taxed to death!
5. anonymous
One reason why this will fail is that nobody is clear about the purpose the ID card will serve. One could go on at great length about the stupidity of buying something expensive whose purpose is uncertain, but let me just highlight one small thing:
If you buy an ID card to protect yourself from ID fraud, you are paying for a service to yourself. Your identity data are being used to protect you. Your motivation is self-protection.
If you buy a proof-of-age card to get into pubs, your motivation is to get a pint, and in order to win that privilege, you are willing to have your age vetted by people you don't know.
People who want their ID protected aren't necessarily interested in having their age vetted; they certainly don't have an interest in submitting potentially private information just in case it might entitle them to some particular service they may or may not want.
I predict that by making the proposed government ID card into a many-headed beast with many purposes, those without those purposes will perceive the cost in terms of privacy loss to outweigh the possible gain in terms of identity protection.
I further predict that when identity systems emerge (as they will) that don't attempt to prove age or entitlement, but merely serve to protect against identity fraud, people will opt for those instead, particularly if (when) they are absolutely free of charge.
6. karen challinor
just because the government backed off the airside workers does not mean that the scheme is dead, dying or even has a mild flesh wound
if there were not an election looming in the near future the government would have stood it's ground and forced the issue but it is trying to avoid any more bad publicity in the run up to an election and holiday makers unable to fly because of a strike over ID cards being compulsory by stealth certainly qualifies as bad publicity
the scheme is still on track and absolutely nothing has changed, the intention is still for every eligible person in the country to enrol in the NIR, have an ID card and ultimately to carry and produce that card on demand
the government is busily burning as many bridges as it can to make dismantling the scheme expensive, time consuming and difficult while at the same time continuing to populate the NIR with passport application details in a frantic effort to tie the hands of any incoming government should they lose the election
the issuing of contracts with expensive withdrawal clauses, the ever extending powers of the IPS to demand personal information, the stealthy increase of ID cards issued to people who do not want or need them such as the over 75's, this all needs to stop now before we waste another penny on this useless white elephant of a scheme
7. anonymous
The only people who an ID card should be mandatory IMHO are habitual fraudsters.
The Robber Baron's in Westminster come top of my list.
8. J Taylor
The Identity Register is the scary part. Once your unique i.d. number is logged in every government database then the Kenco Cards really will reveal everything they know about you, in an instant.
9. Doomsayer
Which is why it's best not to buy into the system at all - avoid ID cards or anything to do with them like the plague. Luckily, I have dual nationality - and two passports. Once my current UK one expires i will not be renewing it.
10. karen challinor
Doomsayer - if you allow your UK passport to expire taking on the nationality of your other passport and wish to remain in this country you will be treated as a foreign national, in which case an ID card and enrolment in the NIR is compulsory