ID cards bill in crisis after major defeat in Lords

The government's controversial ID card plans have suffered a major defeat in the House of Lords with peers refusing to approve the bill until a detailed cost breakdown of the scheme is made public.

The House of Lords voted 237 votes against 156 votes in favour of an amendment to the bill that would force ministers to reveal the full ID card costs to the National Audit Office for scrutiny, with MPs then voting again on the bill.

During the vote on Monday evening, the proposed ID cards legislation came under fierce and sustained attack from peers, who echoed concerns raised by silicon.com's ID Cards on Trial campaign over the massive costs and lack of transparency surrounding the scheme.

The Home Office claims the 10-year cost of the ID cards project will be £5.8bn but academics at the London School of Economics (LSE) estimate the real cost is nearer £19bn and that it could even spiral to £30bn.

Lord Peyton of Yeovil said: "There is a widespread anxiety in this House about the lack of information. We are dealing with a comprehensive system of surveillance and the idea government should get a blank cheque from us for it is odious."

Baroness Noakes argued: "This is about transparency and openness in government. I don't think the government has demonstrated that with this bill. There is still a disparity between what the government has put forward and the LSE. We asked other departments for costs and drew a blank. There are unanswered questions there."

The Earl of Erroll, who has a background in computer security and identity management, said the ID cards will provide no benefit to the citizen and joked that people would be more likely to use it to scrape the ice off their car windscreens in winter.

Peers rejected the government's claims that revealing the full costing of the scheme would make it harder to get a better deal from IT suppliers.

The government was also defeated on two other amendments. Peers voted in favour of a guarantee of a secure and reliable method of recording and storing personal information for the ID scheme and for an amendment stopping ID cards being required to access public services.

The House of Lords will consider further amendments to the Identity Cards Bill next week including taking out a key part of the legislation forcing people to register for an ID card when renewing driving licences and passports.

Home Office ministers have already vowed to fight the amendments when the bill comes back to the House of Commons and the legislation is now likely to get bogged down for several months as the amendments 'ping-pong' between peers and MPs.

Phil Booth, national co-ordinator of the No2ID campaign group, hailed it as the first significant victory in parliament for critics and opponents of the bill.

He told silicon.com: "This was a necessary victory. It's the first time the bill has received proper scrutiny. But I don't think the government are hiding the costs; I think they don't actually know them. They are really going to have to pull something out of the hat now."

Read recent commentary on the technology kinks that must be overcome in order to achieve a national implementation of ID cards.