Downing Street Says

Asked to explain the sudden rush to introduce ID cards given the fact that the Government had been indicating last autumn that the decision would only be made some years hence, the PMOS said that the position had not changed since last November. The reasons for the introduction of biometric data in passports remained the same in terms of the international dimension. Similarly, the domestic reasons for introducing ID cards had not changed in terms of the focus on fraud and security and the protection of people’s identity. Equally, the timetable remained the same, as did the fact that the decision on compulsion would be a matter for the Government and Parliament. Put to him that the Prime Minister himself had indicated last week that it was important to press on with ID cards, the PMOS said that as we had underlined last November, we needed to press on with sorting out the logistics of introducing such a scheme. However, the basic timescale and basic structure of the proposal remained the same.

Asked if 2013 remained the date for when a decision on compulsion would be made, the PMOS said yes. Put to him that that was not what the Home Secretary had been saying, the PMOS said that that was the timetable towards which we were working. Asked if Mr Blunkett was trying to embarrass Downing Street, the PMOS said no. The Home Secretary was getting on with the job of preparing the ground so that we would be in a position to make a decision at the appropriate time. Put to him that Mr Blunkett had been speaking about making a decision in three years’ time, the PMOS said that it was important for people to be clear about the timetable for ID cards. As we had said last November, we would be in a position to introduce voluntary ID cards in 2007. A decision on compulsion would be made in and around 2013. In answer to further questions about compulsion, the PMOS said that the draft Bill set out a “super-affirmative” process whereby the Government must publish a report setting out its case for the move to compulsion; the report must include a proposition on how compulsion would work; the report must be laid before Parliament for debate and vote in both Houses. Asked when the report would be published, the PMOS said that it would be at some point in and around 2013 when we estimated that 80% of people would have ID cards.

Asked to explain the Home Secretary’s comments over Easter suggesting that logistics and practicalities were now the issue rather than civil liberties, the PMOS reminded journalists that that was precisely what we had been saying last November. Asked if he was indicating that the Cabinet had now dealt with questions arising from the issue of civil liberties and ID cards, the PMOS said that the issues of logistics and practicalities were the ones that we were examining.

Asked why it was sensible to wait nine years before introducing compulsion when one of the reasons behind the introduction of ID cards in the first place was to tackle terrorism, the PMOS said that as the delay in introducing voluntary ID cards suggested, this was a complicated process. This was an age in which technology was constantly changing. We could see the direction in which technology was going in terms of biometrics information for example, but we had to make sure that the process worked. It was inevitable that that would take time. Put to him that nine years was an awfully long time, the PMOS said that that period of time was necessary to allow the appropriate processes to be gone through and for counter-checks to be made.

Asked to set out the timetable for the introduction of ID cards, the PMOS said that, on current plans, ID cards would start in 2007/8. We estimated that by 2013 around 80% of people would have one. That was when the Government and Parliament would take a decision on compulsion. Asked if the full Bill would be introduced in the next Parliamentary session, the PMOS said that the Bill would go through the normal parliamentary processes. Asked if the Bill would guarantee a vote on the issue in Parliament, the PMOS said that as we had stated last November, and as the Prime Minister had underlined repeatedly since, Parliament would decide whether compulsion should go ahead or not. Asked if it was correct to say that Cabinet had not approved the compulsory ID card scheme, the PMOS said that Cabinet had approved the process which was going forward at the moment. That process included the fact that it would be Parliament which would decide if the scheme should be made compulsory or not. The Government would need to set out a report recommending compulsion. We were not at that stage yet. Asked the last time Cabinet had discussed the issue of ID cards, the PMOS said that there had been a full discussion in Cabinet before the announcement last November. Asked if he would agree that most of the Cabinet was not keen on the introduction of ID cards, the PMOS said no. The Government had made its decision last November to go down this route and that was precisely what it was doing.

Asked if people applying for a new passport or driving licence from 2007 would be obliged to go down the biometric route, the PMOS said that that would be in line with the international dimension of the issue. For example, other countries, such as the US, were already demanding biometric data on passports.

Asked if ID cards were regarded primarily as an anti-terrorism measure, the PMOS said no. There was a whole range of benefits to having ID cards, including the ability to tackle illegal working, enable people to access services, and ensure that foreign visitors and residents were properly identified. Asked if the threat of terrorism was being used as an excuse to introduce ID cards, which was something the Government had long wanted to do, the PMOS said that he would disagree with the suggestion. The protection of people’s identity was also a human right. In today’s world, fraud was an increasing problem, an issue which banking services and the financial industry would agree needed to be tackled. But he also pointed out that countering terrorism was an issue which should not be under-estimated.

Asked if was true that, under the terms of the draft Bill, people would be required to show their ID cards before being able to use Britain’s public services, the PMOS said that as things stood at the current time, this would be a voluntary system from the time that ID cards were first introduced.

8 Comments »

Tragically, it now turns out that the Tories are in favour of ID cards too. So even if the scheme is a humungous, \xA330 billion cock-up — as is likely, since every large government IT project for the past decade or more has run hideously over budget — we still might end up with this useless white elephant..
Comment by Chris Lightfoot — 26 Apr 2004 on 8:20 pm | Link
The only time I can remember having to prove my identity in the last few years was when I picked up a parcel from the post-office.

Is David Blunkett claiming that he can foil all terrorists by denying them access to recorded delivery? I never realised that it was all so simple…..
Comment by Uncarved Block — 26 Apr 2004 on 10:04 pm | Link
How exactly would ID cards stop terrorists ? People coming into the country as visitors, holidaymakers, etc wouldnt have to have one – or does the government assume all the terrorists currently live in the uk ?
There are already too many ways they can ‘check up’ on people – mobile phone usage, credit card transactions, email and internet use etc….. maybe its just me, but the thought of more info being put into a database on my life is just a bit scary ! Once its on a computer somewhere its just a matter of time before someone gains access and can find out all about you or even alter records……
Comment by Tony — 26 Apr 2004 on 11:17 pm | Link
Most market-does-better-than-government folk will be of the opinion that a national ID system, run and managed by the private sector, would do better than the collective work-permits-and-passports-and-drivers-licenses-and-sundry-others cards run each within their own agencies, without any interconnection of those databases; that kind of centralisation of large scale public efforts into the private sector is right up the Tory garden path.

Doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. Good luck building chinese walls on that database, I’m sure they’ll work as well as they do in the banking sector.
Comment by Gregory Block — 27 Apr 2004 on 12:59 am | Link
By the way: Given that the government is focused on the practicalities of implementation, it behooves them to consider the possibility that without considering those ramifications first, all their hard work will come to nothing when every civil liberties group on the planet starts funding lawyers to drag them through the EC court of human rights and saddle them with yet another damaging verdict against UK law in EC courts.

If it isn’t watertight, it’s going to sink. It will do so because it’s in the interests of a great many of us to ensure that it does so; one need only to have lived in the U.S. to discover just how ‘useful’ a social security number has been as a weapon against the populace to take away their privacy – the last thing we need is another one of those numbers.
Comment by Gregory Block — 27 Apr 2004 on 1:04 am | Link
if i dont carry mine ,will i be arrested and charged. if so, how can they charge me if they dont know who i am.if they do know who i am ,then why do i need a card in the first place.
Comment by richard doherty — 9 May 2004 on 8:12 pm | Link
When i first heard of the ID cards i throt it was a joke and was apuled by the idea, i was not going to cary one.
But after thinking about the hole thing, i can see some uses, which will be good if the government take their time to see a way to impliment them in a cost efective way that will not be a burded.
Clubs can have card readers installed, every one that enters must have their id card, it will tell them their age, and whether or not they have been banned for fighting, so people that fight on the friday and satuerday night for no reason and have been arested can be banned from town at set times, by using thease cards.
If you go to the airport you can use a false passport, but not a false id card, you go to the bank enter your id card.

The card could be used for mass policing that they can track any one, but must be used soley to track certain people with a warant form the court.

there are good uses for the id card, they just need to be made clear and how they would work without intimidating people. the only people who need to be scared are the ones that have something to hide.
Comment by Andrew Rawlinson — 12 Jul 2004 on 2:24 pm | Link
its disgusting to think that we will, and maybe our children will have the possibility of wearing a star to show their identity…does anyone feel like history is repeating itself?
Comment by dave — 31 Dec 2004 on 2:49 pm | Link

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» Monday, April 26, 2004

ID Cards

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