Identity Cards

EDM number 1907 in 2002-03, proposed by Austin Mitchell on 11/11/2003.

That this House believes that the Government should think again on identity cards and clarify its position before incurring any expense on identity cards; emphasises that it is essential to be clear on what cards are intended to achieve and whether they can do so; believes that present proposals are catchall efforts to do things that are either impossible or mutually incompatible, such as an identity card, an entitlement card, an answer to theft of identity, a passport, a weapon against terrorism or regulation of immigration and asylum; feels that Government should decide whether it is to be compulsory or voluntary, whether it shall be carried, or produced later on demand, whether it should embody identification information, such as finger prints, iris scans or DNA, which would require a hugh database or whether it should carry information about rights to work, pensions, benefits or NHS treatment; considers that the heavy costs produce a problem of whether it should be paid for by the state, to serve public purposes, or the citizens, most of whom will receive little benefit from it; regrets Government's efforts to stampede support for identity card proposals by using fears of terrorism and asylum seekers, neither of which would be controlled by it; suggests that in the light of all these unresolved problems Britain should let others make the inevitable expensive mistakes rather than rushing in; and further suggests that the Home Secretary should place the proposal in a Home Office drawer, rather than an overloaded Government in-tray.

This motion has been signed by a total of 20 MPs.