Govt forced to publish ID card reviews
Friday, 20 February 2009 12:00 AM
By Laura Miller
The government will be forced to publish two reviews into the controversial ID card system after a four year battle to keep them secret, a judgement published today reveals.
The government has fought publication of the independent 'Gateway' reviews in which assessors reported on the progress and likely success of an ID system expected to cost the taxpayer £4.5 billion.
But in one of the longest running FOI battles with the government, some campaigners are sceptical about the impact of the judgement.
Michael Parker, spokesperson for NO2ID, a UK campaign group opposing the planned cards, told politics.co.uk: "[The Information Tribunal] has been saying this for four years. Until I actually see it I don't believe it."
The Information Tribunal, which deals with appeals against FOI rulings, ordered both reports be disclosed within 28 days, although it allowed the names of contributors to the reports to be withheld.
From their inception, ID cards, with fingerprint and facial details, have been criticised by civil liberties campaigners who argue they infringe upon basic human rights by destroying privacy.
"I'm not sure we've moved on," said Mr Parker. "But we've waited four years, we can wait another 28 days."
The cost of rolling out the system is another issue which has angered opponents of the cards.
As well as the £4.5 billion implementation cost, taxpayers are set to foot a bill of up to £250,000 a year for a new national identity scheme commissioner, who will receive a six-figure salary and a gold-plated pension, it was reported earlier this month.
On the spiralling cost of the ID cards Chris Huhne, Liberal Democrat shadow home secretary, said:"The Government is increasingly realising that its ID card scheme is a laminated poll tax with all the same toxic ability to make it unpopular."
"Ministers would win more plaudits if they did not drag their feet on their legal obligations."
As early as 2006 ministers admitted spending £32 million on preparation for the introduction of ID cards, before parliament had even approved of the measures.
The figures issued by Charles Clarke, then home secretary, in a Commons written answer, showed spending on the scheme had reached £63,000 a day by February 2006.
The ID card programme has been dogged with problems. Last November Britain's first ID cards could not be read by any official body because the government had not issued a single scanner.
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