Reid to face legal fight over ID cards

John Reid faces the threat of legal action over the introduction of biometric ID cards after disclosing that foreigners living in Britain would have to start registering within two years.

Campaigners warned that the proposals could be discriminatory and breach European human rights law.

The Home Secretary also provoked anger when he announced that the identity register that will under-pin ID cards would be held on three existing Whitehall databases rather than built from scratch.

Mr Reid set out the timetable for identity cards yesterday and insisted they would be an "essential measure" in the fight against terrorism, organised crime and fraud. He said: "A secure identity system is a critical national investment for the United Kingdom."

Under the plans, non-European foreign nationals will be required to start supplying biometric identifiers such as fingerprints and iris scans from 2008. Britons would begin to receive their cards when they renew their passports the following year, with "significant volumes" being sent out in 2010. Civil liberties campaigners vowed to mount a legal challenge to the move to enrol foreign nationals ahead of Britons.