ID Card will not Fulfil its Many Promises

09 May 2005

Hackney Gazette

Labour won a historic third term on 5th May, but our majority has decreased significantly from 160 to 67. This has sparked a great deal of media speculation that “rebel” MPs on the left of the party will be in a position to defeat the government frequently. Media pundits have been prophesying that the first rebellion will be on the controversial identity cards bill.

I have serious doubts about ID cards but believe that objections to any bill must be principled, and focused on particular elements of the legislation - there is no point in opposition for opposition’s sake.

The main argument put forward by supporters of ID cards is that they will protect us against terrorism. This is clearly nonsense. They have ID cards in Spain. This did not prevent the terrorists carrying out the Madrid bombing and killing nearly 200 people. America which went through the horror of 9/11, where thousands of people died, is not even considering ID cards. The truth is that serious terrorists have a number of ways of getting around any ID card regime. They can move across borders using tourist visas (as did those involved in the September 11), or the terrorist gang can use people who are actually resident in the country and have legitimate ID (as were those who carried out the Madrid bombings).

The purpose of the ID card has been said by the government to be to help Britain “meet the challenges of the 21st century”. The real challenge, and a much greater one indeed, is of course to tackle the root of the problem – the causes of terrorism. An ID card will certainly not do that. I am wary that bringing up terrorism in the context of ID cards is just an attempt to frighten people into accepting a massive infringement on our civil liberties.

My other concern about ID cards is about the security of the information that will be held on the central national database. We all know how easy it is for the wrong information to find its way onto computer records. Furthermore, there is no doubt that the introduction of ID cards would bring about an disproportionate intensification of police stop and search activity on the black and Muslim communities.

On the other hand it may be that ID cards would help prevent expensive benefit and identity fraud. But the cost of the cards itself will be astronomical. The cost of the whole scheme has been estimated at £5.5 billion over 10 years, and each of us will be forced to pay between £40 and £85 to own one of these cards.

I do not believe that an ID card is simultaneously the answer to protection from identity and social security fraud, terrorism, illegal working and immigration offences. It may well offer solutions to some of these problems. I can only conclude that the government has yet to make its case for the proposed legislation adequately. Above all I think the issue is about clarity of purpose; the merit of any ID card scheme hinges upon what exactly it is meant to achieve. I ask the government to be honest and open about their motivation and expectations and invite us all to participate in clear and serious debate on the issue.



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