Home Office fails to axe ID cards in 100 days
According to the BBC:
The government has admitted missing its target of scrapping ID cards within 100 days of coming to office.
In May, in one of the coalition’s first acts, Home Secretary Theresa May said the bill to abolish the cards would become law by August.
But ministers ran out of time to get it on to the statute books before MPs began their summer recess.
The bill will now begin its report stage on 15 September with Royal Assent expected “later this year”.
However:
Phil Booth, national co-ordinator of campaign group No2ID, said he was not unduly concerned by the delay.
He told BBC News: “I’d far rather the coalition took the time and effort necessary to abolish the ID scheme properly than it hustled something as shoddy and inadequate as the original draft of the Identity Documents Bill onto the statute books, just for a quick and easy headline.
“Let’s hope that the delay is an indication that they are taking the flaws in the Bill seriously.
“Rather than criticising them for missing an arbitrary deadline, let’s hope we’ll be able to applaud the coalition for ultimately doing a proper job – even if it does take them a little more time.
“No one, least of all NO2ID, wants to be left with unfinished business on the ID front.”
