"ID Cards Doomed"

28 Jun 2005

She went on to highlight three counts on which the Bill was doomed: “the politics of the Bill, its implication on issues of race and what is says for the future.”

Diane explained: “we know for sure that it is doomed to overrun its budget and to spiral in costs. The scheme will experience IT failure and the Bill will not achieve any of the claims that the Government make for it.”

She reminded MPs that ethnic minority representatives have expressed their reservations. She said: “the Muslim Council of Britain, the Commission for Racial Equality and other organisations representing ethnic minorities have expressed their concerns about the Bill. A recent poll showed that 7% of ethnic minority people believed that they would be discriminated against under the Bill.” She added: “We know from the French experience that if we move to such a system, the number of stops and searches on black, Asian and Muslim people will rise, which will be detrimental to community relations.”

She pleaded with the Home Secretary to take seriously these concerns because “the last thing that we need is legislation that will further turn the screw on community relations in our big towns.”

Abbott concluded by reassuring colleagues that voting against the Bill would not constitute a betrayal of the Government or Labour principles. She said: “we would be doing the Government a great service. The more the public hear of the Bill, the less they like it, so the sooner it is stopped in its tracks, the better.”



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