'Botched' ID cards may not be possible for 20 years
Sunday 09 July 2006
Latest in UK Politics
Related articles
On Facebook
From the blogs
Can we shop our way out of a recession?
The idea that a lot of shopping translates into a healthy economy is dubious. On the three prior oc...
How social networking made public vanity acceptable
When did it become acceptable to brag about oneself publicly?
‘French beer is unknown. We must change that’
Stereotypes die hard. ‘The Very Hungry Frenchman’, the BBC’s current television series following che...
Something for the weekend in London: February 17-19
To some, February is the month of lurrrve, to others it's the month of rain, snow and flu, but for u...
The Government's planned ID card scheme may not be introduced fully for up to 20 years, according to leaked Whitehall memos from officials charged with making the project work.
In some of the correspondence officials express fears that the scheme could be "canned completely" and speak of a "botched operation" that will put the introduction back for a generation.
The emails suggest such serious difficulties in implementing the scheme that a smaller, "face-saving" version is the only way a 2008 target to phase in identity cards will be met, according to The Sunday Times. The scheme has been repeatedly cited as a cornerstone in the Government's fight against terrorism, crime and illegal immigration.
The Government has proposed that 50 million adults in the UK should carry the cards. These will include data such as fingerprints or iris scans and the information could be checked against a national database.
A voluntary scheme will operate from 2008, but a further Labour administration aims to make the cards compulsory for over-16s.
An exchange of emails between the Identity and Passport Service, set up by the Home Office to introduce the cards, and the project director, David Foord, at the Office of Government Commerce, indicates the Government is "rethinking" the scheme. This could mean gathering the data or storing it on a temporary register, but not storing it on cards.
The correspondence is reported to have been leaked by an official close to the Treasury.
- 1 Vatican told to pay taxes as Italy tackles budget crisis
- 2 Pete Doherty: I was a bit unhinged
- 3 Rothschild loses libel case, and reveals secret world of money and politics
- 4 Greeks rage at erosion of sovereignty while leaders haggle over deal
- 5 Swiss to launch a space 'janitor'
- 6 Energy watchdog tells big firms: cut prices or else
- 7 Hey, You've got to hide your drug away
- 1 Rothschild loses libel case, and reveals secret world of money and politics
- 2 Vatican told to pay taxes as Italy tackles budget crisis
- 3 The West Bank's Bobby Sands
- 4 Prehistoric cybermen? Sardinia's lost warriors rise from the dust
- 5 Spotify: 1 million plays, £108 return
- 6 Female teachers accused of giving boys lower marks
- 7 The artist vandalising advertising with poetry
- 8 Apple admits it has a human rights problem
- 9 Mark Steel: If religion is 'marginal', I'm the Pope
- 10 Can you master a language in a weekend?
Free trial of new Independent iPad app
Get your daily dose of the best of British journalism, sponsored by American Airlines
Amazing restaurant offers
Three glasses of free champagne and a special menu at 46 top London restaurants.
Latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Career Services
Day In a Page
Dawn of the age of wireless medicine
Pete Doherty: I was a bit unhinged
Is there such a thing as a gastronomic gender divide?
The day I danced for a place in Danny Boyle's Olympics spectacular




Comments