[IP] ID cards in two years as rebellion fails (UK)
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Subject: ID cards in two years as rebellion fails (UK)
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2006 10:02:21 +0000
From: Brian Randell <Brian.Randell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
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@xxxxxxxxx PHONE = +44 191 222 7923
FAX = +44 191 222 8232 URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/~brian.randell/
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