Blair tackled on ID cards
Labour’s plans to introduce identity cards came under fire in the House of Commons this lunchtime from Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy.
The Identity Cards Bill is due to return to the Commons tomorrow for its report stage, where MPs will be able to move amendments to the bill.
The Liberal Democrats are set to oppose the bill and though the Conservatives back the idea in principle, they have serious reservations on some of the details.
Backbenchers from all parties are known to be unhappy with the bill and it is likely to provoke fierce debate.
Speaking during Prime Minister’s Question Time, Mr Kennedy hit out at Government suggestions that ID cards would help the fight against terrorism, saying they had not stopped the Madrid bombs and that the 9/11 bombers travelled under their own identities.
And, he stressed that visitors to the UK would not be required to carry ID cards and that they would not be compulsory in the UK for at least another 10 years.
Responding the Prime Minister said introducing ID cards would bring Britain into line with “best practise around the world” and would make a “genuine difference” to security.
Mr Blair told MPs that with passports switching to biometric data it made sense to also use that technology for ID cards.
Though he admitted that there “is no system that is going to prevent all crime and all terrorism” ID cards would heighten the security of Britain.
Before there is any move to compulsion – and the estimated 10 million people in Britain who do not have a passport are required to pay for an identity card – Mr Blair said there would be a “rigorous examination” and the House would be able to debate the issue again.
He added: “I don’t think it is wrong or a breech of anyone’s civil liberties to say we should have an identity card. Most people carry some form of identity anyway. I think it’s long overdue and we should get on and do it.”
