Identity cards to be scrapped

Government plans for identity cards for British citizens is to be scrapped within 100 days, saving the taxpayer around £86m over the next four years and avoiding £800m in ongoing costs over the next ten years.

The National Identity Register, the database that contains
the biographic and biometric fingerprint data of card holders,
would also be destroyed by the first piece of legislation introduced to Parliament by the coalition government.

Home Secretary Theresa May said: “This bill is a first step
of many that this government is taking to reduce the control
of the state over decent, lawabiding people and hand power
back to them.

“With swift parliamentary approval, we aim to consign
identity cards and the intrusive ID card scheme to history within 100 days.”

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: “The wasteful,
bureaucratic and intrusive ID card scheme represents
everything that has been wrong with government in recent
years.

“By taking swift action to scrap it, we are making it clear that
this government won’t sacrifice people’s liberty for the sake of
ministers’ pet projects.

“Cancelling the scheme and abolishing the National Identity
Register is a major step in dismantling the surveillance state – but ID cards are just the tip of the iceberg – this marks the start of a series of radical reforms to restore hard-won British freedoms.”

Cancelling identity cards will save the taxpayer around £86m over the next four years once one-off costs like decommissioning, contract termination and asset write-offs
are taken into account. It will also avoid ongoing operation costs, creating a gross saving of more than £800m over ten years, which would have been funded through income from fees.

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