ID cards in two years as rebellion fails (UK)

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

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- -------- Original Message --------
Subject: ID cards in two years as rebellion fails (UK)
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2006 10:02:21 +0000
From: Brian Randell <Brian.Randell () newcastle ac uk>
To: dave () farber net

Dave:

Here is the (UK) Guardian's coverage of last
night's vote in favour of an ID card and central
ID registry here in the UK.

Cheers

Brian

- -----

http://www.guardian.co.uk/idcards/story/0,,1709246,00.html

> ID cards in two years as rebellion fails
>
> Concern remains over backbench discipline ahead of further key votes
>
> Patrick Wintour, chief political correspondent
> Tuesday February 14, 2006
> The Guardian
>
> Millions of British citizens will be 
> compulsorily required to hold an identity card 
> and see their biometric details placed on a 
> central database after the government last night 
> fended off a backbench rebellion designed to 
> derail the plan. Anyone applying for passports 
> or immigration documents will in two years time 
> be required to apply for an ID card.
>
> Government whips had been anxious that they 
> would suffer a fresh Commons defeat, adding to 
> the sense of a government losing control, only a 
> fortnight after the surprise reverse on 
> religious hatred bill. But MPs voted by 310 
> votes to 279, a majority of 31, to reject the 
> Lords demand that ID cards could not be brought 
> in covertly by making them conditional on 
> application for a passport. Twenty Labour 
> backbenchers rebelled, about the same number as 
> the first time MPs voted on the issue in October.
>
> The result was greeted with dismay by civil 
> liberties groups who accused the government of 
> bludgeoning their backbenchers. The victory was 
> a relief for Tony Blair ahead of a week in which 
> he faces a further close vote on outlawing the 
> glorification of terrorism tomorrow and the 
> possibly chaotic sight of ministers voting 
> different ways on a smoking ban today. The prime 
> minister gave the Labour party a free vote on 
> smoking after he had been unable to achieve an 
> agreed cabinet line on the issue.
. . .

> The main assault on the bill last night came 
> over claims that the government was covertly 
> introducing identity cards by making it a 
> requirement that the British public and foreign 
> residents living in the UK for more than three 
> months apply for an ID card when they seek a new 
> passport with the new biometric data.
>
> The shadow home secretary David Davis complained 
> that this represented "creeping covert 
> compulsion", and the country was "sleepwalking 
> towards the surveillance state". Mr Davis 
> claimed that the ID card database would become 
> "a target for every fraudster, terrorist, 
> confidence trickster and computer hacker on the 
> planet".
>
> Last night, Shami Chakrabarti, director of 
> Liberty, the civil liberties watchdog, said: 
> "The government will be relieved but it could 
> only push this half-baked compromise through. 
> Support for identity cards continues to wane in 
> the country. New Labour's poll tax may be beaten 
> yet."


http://www.guardian.co.uk/idcards/story/0,,1709228,00.html


> Biometric scans for passports from April
>
> · ID card vote paves way for detailed national database
> · Start of £5.8bn computer procurement project
>
> Alan Travis, home affairs editor
> Tuesday February 14, 2006
> The Guardian
>
> The final Commons votes last night cleared the 
> way for the first national identity card scheme 
> in Britain for 50 years.
>
> Parliament's approval of ID card legislation 
> signals the start of a procurement process for 
> the largest public sector computer project in 
> Europe, which carries a minimum official price 
> tag of £5.8bn in running costs over the next 10 
> years.
>
> A debate launched in 1995 by the former Tory 
> leader Michael Howard, when he was home 
> secretary, is set to become law. It will 
> eventually mean that 38 million British citizens 
> over the age of 16 and resident foreign 
> nationals who have lived here for more than 
> three months will have their details registered 
> on a powerful national identity database.
>
> The first step will come this April, when a 
> "biometric" security feature - an electronic 
> scan of a finger, an iris or the face - will be 
> included for some of those who renew their 
> passports. In October a network of 70 
> passport/identity card offices will open, where 
> all first-time passport applicants will be 
> interviewed.
>
> Within two years - that is from 2008-09 - the 7 
> million people who renew or apply for a passport 
> will be given a full biometric passport, 
> possibly containing electronic scans of all 
> their fingers, thumbs, face and eyes, and have 
> their details entered automatically onto the 
> national identity database. In effect, they will 
> get an ID card by what critics call "creeping 
> compulsion".
>
> The front of the card will carry details such as 
> signature, photograph and nationality, but the 
> entry on the database will have more than 40 
> pieces of information, including previous 
> addresses, immigration status and unique 
> identity number. Citizens will have access to 
> information about who has used their database 
> entry but ministers say it will not link to 
> criminal records or other sensitive personal 
> information such as medical treatment.
>
> The fee for this new combined biometric 
> passport/ID card has not been set, but ministers 
> have cited a cost of £93 each. This could be 
> offset by charges to the private sector for 
> verifying customers' IDs.
>
> A 10-year passport costs £51 and officials say 
> the cost of the biometric passport will make up 
> 70% of the £93 cited. Critics say the cards will 
> last five years, not 10, and the scheme could 
> cost up to £19bn, putting a £300-a-head price 
> tag on the project. Ministers have said they 
> will produce a £30 standalone ID card, which 
> could also be used as a travel document within 
> the EU.
>
> In the meantime, Home Office officials will 
> start to put in place the biggest IT procurement 
> exercise in the European Union. They will invite 
> commercial suppliers to manufacture the identity 
> cards and the chips that will store the 
> biometric data - as well as the IT 
> infrastructure to set up the database, the data 
> hub, and the system of scanners and readers that 
> will ensure everybody's identity is verified.
>
> The government has refused to publish a figure 
> for these set-up costs, saying it would restrict 
> their ability to gain value for money from 
> potential bidders.
>
> The Home Office says that by 2013 it expects 
> more than 80% of adults to have a combined ID 
> card/passport. The government will go back to 
> parliament to introduce primary legislation to 
> make the scheme compulsory: those who fail to 
> register could face fines of up to £2,500.

- --
School of Computing Science, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne,
NE1 7RU, UK
EMAIL = Brian.Randell () ncl ac uk   PHONE = +44 191 222 7923
FAX = +44 191 222 8232  URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/~brian.randell/

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