The government has defended itself against fresh calls to drop its troubled ID cards scheme, this time from within the Labour party.
In an extensive parliamentary debate on Tuesday, Labour MP Andrew MacKinlay added his voice to those calling for the £5bn scheme to be scrapped.
MacKinlay urged home secretary Alan Johnson to bite the bullet, saying: "He is having to cope with the denouement of a failed idea. Why don't we go to the dispatch box and say, 'We have rethought this, it was a silly idea and we are going to start again examining how we can promote security and individual identity'?"
The debate follows the home secretary's decision last week to make ID cards entirely voluntary and scrap trials that would have compelled airside workers and pilots at London City and Manchester airports to carry the cards — a move widely seen as the government stepping back from the project.
Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling poured scorn on the idea that a voluntary card would be any use in combating crime and terrorism.
"Somehow, I do not see the al-Qaeda sleeper cells all rushing down to Boots with their £30 to make sure that they have their own ID cards. What about the organised criminals? Will the traffickers and drug smugglers all rush to sign up? Somehow, I doubt it," he said.
The home secretary faced similar calls to scrap the scheme from Conservative MP Stewart Jackson, this time to save costs. "Will the home secretary pledge to scrap the huge cost of ID cards to get the public debt into a more stable condition?" he asked.
Johnson refuted the idea that scrapping ID cards would save money, saying the public would meet the cost when applying for the cards.
"The idea that you could half the national debt by abolishing ID cards is simply ludicrous. The amount of money that you have to spend in a scheme where the recipients of ID cards will pay for them is very small. Scrapping now will gain very little and cost a lot," he said.
Despite ongoing criticism of the scheme, the Conservatives lost a vote on the motion: "This House believes the government's identity cards scheme should be cancelled immediately", with 293 MPs voting against and 203 for.
Johnson reiterated to parliament yesterday that the government is pushing ahead the rollout of ID cards and that a key contract to produce the cards for the medium term will now be in place this year, ahead of original plans to sign it in 2010.
"We have not scrapped ID cards, we are accelerating their introduction," he told parliament.
He pointed to the fact that the plans to offer ID cards to residents in Manchester on a voluntary basis had been extended, with the cards being made available across the whole of the north-west in 2010.
A government motion stating that ID cards would reduce fraud and make it easier for young people to prove their age was passed, with 283 MPs voting for and 203 voting against.
On Wednesday, MPs will vote on secondary legislation under the Identity Cards Act 2006 that will introduce the fee of £30 for enrolling details on the National Identity Register and a further £30 for submitting an application for the issue of an ID card, as well as fines of up to £1,000 for failing to inform government when changing of details on ID cards.
Talkback
Hmm, pay £30 to have my details stored on a National Identity Register, a further £30 for an ID card, on top of the £74 it costs for a passport (plus the additional cost of having it sent securely) AND a potential fine of up to £1,000 for forgetting to tell them I've moved or died or something?
Ah well, I suppose MPs can always claim the cost of their cards on expenses...