Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know
Peers and MPs approved a deal yesterday that will allow the Government to push through its controversial ID card scheme. The Identity Card Bill is expected to become law later today. In three years, British passport applicants will need to provide biometric data.
The deal was reached after the House of Lords rejected the Bill five times in a game of political 'ping pong'. It will allow passport applicants to opt out of purchasing an ID card at the same time as they apply for a passport. The opt out will last until January 2010, after which time applicants will have to buy an ID card along with their passport, for the projected cost of around £93.
However, the compromise makes no provision for an opt out from the national identity register at the heart of the scheme: from 2008, passport applicants, whether or not they opt out of obtaining an ID card, will still be obliged to provide personal details, including biometric information such as fingerprints, for inclusion in the register.
The compromise, mooted by former cabinet secretary Lord Armstrong, removes the element of ‘compulsion by stealth’ from the card that had upset many members of the Lords. With a General Election due before the opt out time limit runs out, Conservative peers were satisfied that the public would be able to have their say on ID cards before being forced to obtain one.
The Government has already agreed that further legislation is necessary before it can make it compulsory to have an ID Card, but it had made a manifesto commitment that prior to this being passed, ID Cards would be introduced on a voluntary basis only.
According to Shadow Home Secretary David Davis the deal reached with Government ministers is "just about good enough".
"Essentially, no one who does not want to have an identity card before the next General Election will have to have one," he said. "This is a major climb down by the Government."
The Conservatives have pledged to scrap the ID card scheme if they come to power.
Liberal Democrat peers opposed the measure, which passed in the Lords by 287 votes to 60. MPs later approved the amendment, passing the ID Card Bill by 301 votes to 84.
Government Ministers were delighted.
According to the Herald Newspaper, Home Office Minister Andy Burnham explained, "The amendment preserves the integrity of the National Identity Register by ensuring that everyone who applies for or renews a passport or other designated document has their biometric information and other identity details placed on the register.”
But critics argue that the compromise is a whitewash.
Phil Booth, national coordinator of campaign group NO2ID, told the BBC, “The problem has always been the database, not the card.”
According to the Guardian, Simon Davies of rights group Privacy International, warned, "There will be champagne flowing in Whitehall tonight. The government can build a database as planned and require compulsory registration linked to passport renewal. The rollout of the cards will take place as planned."
