Minister’s ‘honesty’ on ID cards welcomed
Opposition to the controversial ID cards scheme has intensified following an admission by a home office minister that their advantages may have been “oversold”.
The Liberal Democrats have welcomed the “refreshing” comments by Tony McNulty, who is responsible for pushing the scheme through parliament, admitting ID cards were perhaps not as useful as the government had suggested.
Critics of the ID card scheme warn that it threatens civil liberties, will cost millions more than the government is admitting and is unlikely to improve national security.
Home secretary Charles Clarke has acknowledged ID cards would not have stopped the London bombers, and Mr McNulty confirmed this on Wednesday night.
“I think, maybe in the past, we were offering the system as a panacea to all these ills when it will help and benefit each one, but it is not going to solve any one of them,” he told a private seminar in Whitehall.
Last night Mr McNulty tried to explain his comments, saying he was attempting to “introduce some honesty into a debate which is almost a caricature of itself now”.
“And if I get greater degree of clarity in the debate and a debate around the real issues rather than a debate thrown up by our opponents, quite mischievously, then that is what I was trying to do at the seminar,” he told the BBC’s PM.
Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten welcomed the clarification – but suggested all they meant was that the ID cards scheme should be scrapped altogether.
“The money for the government’s flawed ID card plans would be far better spent on more police and better border controls,” he said.
“The Home Office should abandon their plans before they waste any more of parliament’s time and taxpayers’ money.”
Keith Taylor, principal speaker for the Green party, was equally receptive to Mr McNulty’s honesty in saying ID cards “won’t do the job” – a position the party has long taken.
“Anyone who thought that the bland assurances given to us were sufficient to warrant the biggest and most expensive ICT project ever undertaken in the UK has lost touch with reality,” he said.
Instead, the money earmarked for ID cards should be put in to improving traditional policing, security and preventative measures, Mr Taylor said.
