ID cards rollout pushed back to 2012

The widespread introduction of ID cards has slipped back by two years, leaked Home Office documents have revealed.

The documents state cards will only be issued to most UK citizens from 2012 - two years later than previously stated for the crucial phase two of their introduction.

The Home Office insists the project is on track despite an earlier action plan pledge that cards would be issued in "significant" numbers to those renewing their passports from 2010.

In response to the documents leaked to the Conservatives, the Home Office said it had always stated the scheme will be rolled out incrementally.

A spokesman for the Identity and Passport Service said: "As stated in the strategic plan for the National Identity Scheme published in December 2006, we will begin issuing ID cards for foreign nationals this year and the first ID cards for British citizens in 2009."

Biometric passports were introduced on schedule in 2006 but the spokesman said it was reviewing the date for the introduction of the second generation biometric passport, which would include fingerprints.

Opponents have seized on the revelations as evidence that Gordon Brown's government is cooling towards ID cards.

Brown was already accused of wavering in his support for the scheme earlier this month when he reiterated the fact there will have to be another vote before parliament before ID cards become compulsory in the UK.

The status of the review of ID cards and other identity technology issues is also unknown, with chief secretary to the treasury Andy Burnham saying there is no fixed date for the publication of the Public-Private Forum on Identity Management report led by Sir James Crosby.

Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, welcomed the delay to the wholesale introduction of ID cards.

He said: "Clearly the home office has been listening to sensible advice for a change and decided that many of the original elements were unworkable by deciding on gradated introduction and with far fewer aspirations for the technology itself."

He warned that if the Home Office suffered a data breach similar to the spate of incidents in other government departments then it would kill off the system.