|
|
|
|
|
Compulsory identity cards planned Identity cards will be made compulsory if Labour wins the next election, Home Secretary Charles Clarke has said. Under the current scheme all passport applicants from 2008 will have to get an ID card - although there will be a brief opt-out period until 2010. But Mr Clarke said he plans legislation after the next election to make it compulsory for everyone to get a card, whether or not they have a passport. The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats both oppose ID cards. But Mr Clarke said he did not think the opposition would be able to stop the scheme because by 2010 a "large number of people... should either have cards or hope to have cards". "I would be very surprised if the next Conservative manifesto said 'stop the scheme'. It would be very difficult to do," he said. 'Foolish' Between 2008 and summer 2010 people applying for a passport will be able to opt-out of having an identity card, but not from having their details entered on the ID card database. And although Mr Clarke stressed prices had yet to be worked out there will be no discount for those who opt out. He said the opt-out had been introduced to allay fears expressed in the House of Lords that cards would be "foisted" on people, but he added: "Anyone who opts out in my opinon is foolish." He said he believed there was an "appetite" among the public for ID cards, which he said would bring "massive benefits" for banks, law enforcement agencies and "the individual citizen". The scheme would "enable every citizen in this country, over time, to protect their identity from people who seek to defraud," he said. Interviews Banks will be able to check people are who they say they are on the government's national identity database - potentially saving them £425m a year, said Mr Clarke. The Department of Work and Pensions would also be able to use the register to check the identity of benefit claimants and combat fraud. The government is launching a new Identity and Passport Service on 1 April, incorporating the existing UK Passport Service, to administer the scheme. Interviews will begin "later this year" for passport applicants. People applying for passports will have to visit their local passport office where they will be interviewed, fingerprinted and have "background checks" carried out on them. 'Take-up' Their details will be entered on to the database and they will be issued with an identity card, although they will not be forced by law to carry it. About 80% of the UK population has a passport and all will have to be renewed within the next 10 years, at an initial rate of about 7 million people a year, a Home Office spokesman said. Mr Clarke was not willing to set a date when ID cards would become compulsory, saying it would depend on the rate at which passports were renewed. "We don't know how fast take up will be," he told reporters in a briefing at the Home Office as the current plans became law. From 2008 foreign nationals wishing to enter the UK will have to apply for "biometric residence permits" or "biometric visas" and will be entered on the national ID database. Home Office minister Andy Burnham said people will be able to use ID cards as passports within the EU. --------------------------------------------------- Please help our fight against the New World Order by giving a donation. As bandwidth costs increase, the only way we can stay online and expand is with your support. Please consider giving a monthly or one-off donation for whatever you can afford. You can pay securely by either credit card or Paypal. Click here to donate. |
