The A to Z of ID cards

Y is for Yield

The Home Office says police will not be able to stop people and demand to see their ID card.

But civil rights groups No2ID and Liberty claim that clauses in the draft Borders, Immigration and Citizenship Bill, which is currently being considered by Parliament, will give officials powers to demand to inspect ID cards of most British citizens.

They say the clauses would allow state officials to demand that anybody who has entered the UK, at any time, to produce their card to prove their identity. They claim this could mean that any UK citizens who go on holiday could then be forced to produce their ID cards once they were back in the UK.

The Home Office says the clauses are simply an attempt to maintain effective immigration control by asking everyone entering the country to produce a valid identification document, adding it would not result in British citizens having to carry the cards at all times.