Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know

ID cards approved in principle, but nothing to be done yet

07 Nov 2003, 12:00 am

In a masterly piece of political compromise the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman advised journalists yesterday that the Cabinet had approved a national ID card scheme in principle, but would not be going ahead with it yet. This announcement may have gone some way to save David Blunkett's credibility, but the Government has avoided making a final decision to implement this controversial scheme.

Home Secretary David Blunkett makes no secret about his desire to implement plans for a national identity card scheme (involving id cards, dubbed 'entitlement' cards, which may incorporate biometric data). Cabinet colleagues are not so keen.

Chancellor Gordon Brown, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Peter Hain, the Leader of the Commons, are all said to oppose the plans on grounds ranging from cost to human rights principles. Cabinet discussions on the issue have been "savage" and "a bloodbath", according to the BBC.

Matters have now been resolved, at least for a time. Following a Cabinet meeting yesterday the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman announced that:

"In principle, Cabinet believes that a national ID card scheme could bring major benefits. In practice, given the size and complexity of the scheme, a number of issues will need to be resolved over the years ahead. So we intend to proceed, by incremental steps, to build a base for a compulsory national ID card scheme, with a final decision to proceed to a compulsory card later, when the conditions for moving to a compulsory card are met. We will legislate to enable the scheme to be introduced, and plan on the basis that all the practical problems can be overcome. But we will reserve the final decision on a move to compulsion until later this decade."

According to commentators, the Government is likely to introduce a draft bill in the next Parliament, laying the groundwork for the scheme without actually passing the legislation. As one unnamed minister told The Independent newspaper:

"This is a classic compromise. It isn't what draft legislation was designed for but it should keep everyone happy."

The director of human rights group Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti, was reported by the BBC as dismissing the Cabinet decision as, "a face-saving formula to disguise the fact that Mr Blunkett has lost the argument", and one which represented a "humiliating defeat for the home secretary".