David Leppard writes in The Sunday Times:

Fresh evidence that Tony Blair’s flagship identity cards scheme is in crisis is disclosed in a confidential Home Office report which has been leaked to The Sunday Times.

The 32-page “restricted” document says that the security system protecting the card and the national database could be infiltrated by criminal gangs involved in identity theft and highlights shrinking public support for the scheme. It also says British firms have no current manufacturing capacity to produce the card.

The report, entitled Market Soundings, flatly contradicts recent public reassurances to MPs by Joan Ryan, the minister responsible for ID cards, that the scheme is not facing any problems.

The article cites some of these contradictions:

Responding to a question from Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, about the programme’s vulnerability to fraud, Ryan said: “I hope to be able to publish our findings shortly and they will give him [Clegg] the reassurance that he requires, as well as reveal the widespread public support for the ID card system.”

However, the Market Soundings document to which Ryan refers says nothing of the sort.

It cites one manufacturer saying: “In New Zealand the lifetime of the card and chip was reduced from 10 to five years, since holding information for 10 years on a card could be dangerous as criminal activities may be able to defeat chip security within these time scales.”

Interestingly, the Home Office has long insisted that its ID cards would last for 10 years, and has roundly criticised cost estimates from the London School of Economics based on a five-year life.

This entry was posted by andrew on Sunday, July 23rd, 2006 at 23:35 and is filed under Anti, General, UK News Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.