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Blunkett U-turn: Scrap £5billion ID card scheme
Paul Waugh28 Apr 2009
Former home secretary David Blunkett urged Gordon Brown to make yet another U-turn today by calling on the Government to dump its £5 billion ID cards.
In a major shift, Mr Blunkett said that it was time to drop the scheme because of the huge cost to the public purse at a time of soaring national debt.
A former advocate of the cards, he revealed that he had told Home Secretary Jacqui Smith that it would be better and cheaper to use a biometric passport.
Speaking at InfoSec 2009, a security conference held in London, Mr Blunkett said: “People don't worry about the Passport Agency but they do worry about some mythical identity database.”
Tory leader David Cameron has already signalled that ID cards would be scrapped if his party wins power.
Reader views (11)
Unfortunately, it's not a U-Turn!
The “Biometric Passport” scheme is just another New Labour deception to make us THINK that they have changed their position.
In reality, the new scheme is just the same as the old scheme.
With the Biometric Passport scheme, you still have:
1) The same compulsion and £1000 fines for not keeping your details up-to-date.
2) The same unfit-for-purpose fingerprint Biometrics.
3) The same Database.
4) The same monitoring and control of your life from birth to death.
The only difference is that you are forced to buy a passport instead of a card.
New Labour: World-Class Stupidity.
- Brian Drury, London Colney, England, 07/05/2009 16:52
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mike, lottery funds paid for the dome not tax
- John P Reid, london, 29/04/2009 00:56
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Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha HaHa Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha lol! Its a case of I told you so!
- Angel, London Lewisham, 28/04/2009 21:42
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Typically architypal, scandalously grotesque behaviour from that arrogant squanderer Blunkett.
Backtracking at the eleventh hour, doubtlessly after personally 'pocketing' from some dubious consultancy
'role', like his other ex-Ministerial McLabour 'mates'.
- Dave, Cumbria, 28/04/2009 17:57
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Blunkett knows it's impossible to scrap it. Brown & Co are just rubber-stamping the E.U.'s ID card legislation in an area over which the U.K. has ceded power to the central government in Brussels. Even if Brown agreed with Blunkett, Brown could not drop ID cards.
- Phil Jones, London UK, 28/04/2009 17:35
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Bit late now you were told years ago to expensive and impossible to manage (anyone care to guess how many people live in UK now as its far more than the quoted 55million or so)Why are you still going on about an impossible task or are you just trying to waste another £5billion (read at least treble this is Labours past estimates are anything to go by (Dome,Olympics etc etc)). Doubtful you will even be in power that long to be able to implement it anyway!!
- Mike, London England, 28/04/2009 16:56
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Pass me the brandy!! (Medicinal of course). What's this? Common sense from an ex labour minister. They'll be taking down speed cameras next!!!
- Alan, carlisle uk, 28/04/2009 16:51
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Yesterday he was warning us about miscreants hacking into the Olympics and today he wants to scrap one of his own pet projects.
Do I detect another stalking horse after Mr. Brown's job? Straw, Harman, Balls and now Blunkett. What a choice!
- Nobby Clark, Perth, Scotland, 28/04/2009 16:47
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Any road to Damascus conversion is welcome and this one is very sensible and very welcome.
- Thomas, London, 28/04/2009 16:40
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Why's Blunkett come out of hiding all of a sudden and making himself busy...ulterior motive me thinks...he's after something.
- Rosie, watford, 28/04/2009 16:38
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Scrapping ID cards will retain at least the first £5 billion downpayment in the UK.
....otherwise see Fortunes of Taxpayer money being sent overseas to suppliers and 'outsourced' support people (oxymoron) in another country.
This government aren't interested in supporting home-grown knowledge workers.
- Cap, London, 28/04/2009 16:34
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