Identity cards are high on the Government's agenda at the moment and until now there was an indication of overwhelming public support for the proposal, with a recent MORI poll claiming that 80% of the population approve the introduction of the cards.
However, there are indications that public approval is not a strong as it once was. A survey of 2003 members of the electorate, carried out in May by YouGov on behalf of Privacy International, found that the approval rating had dropped to 61%.
Furthermore, a majority of those surveyed had objections to certain parts of the Bill, in particular the legal requirement to notify change of address (to which 47% were opposed, with 41% in favour) and the requirement to notify the government if the card is lost, stolen or damaged (45% against, with 44% in favour).
Of those opposing the Bill, 28% were willing to take part in demonstrations, a figure which equates to around 4.9 million people. Sixteen percent (or in extrapolated figures, 2.8 million) would take part in a "campaign of civil disobedience," while 6% would rather go to prison than register for a card. This amounts to more than a million people, according to the survey.
"The more people hear about the government's proposals, the less they like them," Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, told the BBC. He added, "What this survey suggests is that the government is staring down the barrel of another Poll Tax revolt but on a larger scale".