News Item

[Abandon]

From the Guardian:

The estimated charge for the combined identity card and passport, being introduced in three years' time, appears to be heading over the £100 mark after officials admitted yesterday that rising costs has pushed the figure up to £93.

The overall estimated 10-year cost of the project has grown from £3.1bn three years ago to more than £5.8bn now as new problems emerged yesterday over the effectiveness of the new biometric technology that is supposed to safeguard the security of the cards.

It is clear from the rising costs that chancellor Gordon Brown's original decision to back the ID card scheme on the condition that it is self-financing, is causing serious problems.

Ministers said the £93 figure was only an estimate of the "unit cost" of the combined passport/ID card to be phased in from 2008. But since it does not include the start-up costs or cross-subsidies of free ID cards for pensioners and the poor, it is likely to top £100 by the time the scheme gets under way. It currently costs £42 to renew a 10-year passport.

Ministers said 70% of the cost would be spent on biometric passports regardless of whether ID cards were introduced.

Home Office ministers also announced yesterday that they intend to include three electronic biometric identifiers in the new ID cards, taken from the eyes, hands and face, instead of just one or two, after an enrolment trial placed question marks over the effectiveness of the technology.

But the home secretary, Charles Clarke, who reintroduced the bill scuppered by the general election to the Commons yesterday, said he was confident he could get it through despite opposition from the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

He talked to rebel Labour MPs in the Campaign group but they have indicated that, despite voting against the legislation this year, they are likely to abstain on second reading this time.

The immigration and asylum minister, Tony McNulty, defended the reintroduction of the bill, saying: "A secure compulsory national identity card scheme will help tackle illegal immigration, organised crime, ID fraud, terrorism and will benefit all UK citizens."

He played down the significance of evidence that there were verification problems with 30% of those whose fingerprints were taken during an enrolment trial of 10,000 volunteers.

Mark Oaten, of the Liberal Democrats, said: "If there was ever any doubt that the costs of this scheme were going to spiral out of control, the new figures should put paid to them; £93 is a ludicrous amount of money to ask people to pay, especially when you consider the combined cost for a family with children over the age of 16."

Making clear the Conservatives' official opposition despite Michael Howard's personal support, the shadow home secretary, David Davis, said: "Our concerns include the cost-effectiveness of the scheme."

[Rinrada]

Khun W got her new Bangkok issued Biomometric all singing and dancing I.D card on Friday and it cost her 20 baht and in the pict she even looks quite good but of course I am biased.

So to compare and with respect to/in any comparison the cost of a UK ID should be NO more than..............£5......Charles ...co jai...u.2 u..National policy forum will be informed