Downing Street Says

Asked if the Home Secretary had been serious this morning in suggesting that a special Standing Committee could be set up to discuss the detail of the ID Cards Bill, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) referred journalists to the Home Office for further detail about such a suggestion.

Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with the Home Secretary’s description of the LSE report on ID cards as "partisan" and "fabricated", the PMOS said that, as the Prime Minister had indicated in his monthly press conference yesterday, we recognised that some people had a very definite view of ID cards. However, we were happy to take on the arguments. We believed that the LSE report was based on false assumptions and, at times, appeared to have excessive contingencies built into its findings.

Asked by how much the unit cost of ID cards would increase if discounts were to be granted to pensioners, the PMOS said that precise costings had yet to be calculated. It went without saying, however, that the Home Office would have built such contingencies into the system. As we had made clear, the £93 projection figure had been worked out carefully by the Home Office and had been based on a thorough analysis by their experts. He did not think it would be helpful to get drawn into a speculative discussion at this point since we believed that the issue should be examined properly.

2 Comments »

"Happy to take on the arguments"? That’d be why they’re doing everything they can (again) to suppress debate then, huh? Plan the debate to collide with the Trafalgar 200 celebrations, put in programme motions to curtail the Committee and Report stages, then berate the Opposition for suggesting that something that was only half a manifesto pledge (widely regarded within the PLP as being optional where necessary) should be kept within the Salisbury Convention, when that Convention is clearly outdated.

Shameful and scandalous. "Sleepwalking into a surveillance society" indeed.
Comment by Owen Blacker — 28 Jun 2005 on 11:07 pm | Link
SAY NO TO ID CARDS!!!!!!! – if the people, ( YOU )allow this then our freedoms and liberty will be at stake, then what next? once they have the power they will try to control you anyway possible like cattle.

E.g 11 year old blonde haired girl riding on bicycle held in prisson under the terrorism act – [ FACT ] – so if they did it to her then why not you?
Comment by Freedom Fighter — 3 Jan 2007 on 7:25 pm | Link

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» Tuesday, June 28, 2005

ID Cards

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