ID cards are being “accelerated not scrapped”
Computing reports Monday’s debate on ID Cards in the House of Commons:
Home secretary Alan Johnston has flatly denied killing off the ID card programme with his announcement last week the scheme will be entirely voluntary for UK citizens.
He delivered the denial in a Commons debate in which a Tory demand for the plan to be dropped was defeated by 293 votes to 206.
A government motion insisting the cards will help secure individuals’ identity and reduce multiple ID fraud was carried by 283 votes to 203 despite intense speculation about the programme’s future. Johnson announced last week that airside workers at London City and Manchester airports can decide for themselves whether to apply for cards, a U-turn on original plans to make them compulsory for workers in such a security-sensitive role.
He started the debate with the declaration: “We haven’t scrapped cards. What we are doing is accelerating their introduction”.
The transcript of the entire debate can be read at the TheyWorkForYou web site.
