Britain faces prospect of high-tech ID cards
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-04-27 13:53

Britain outlined plans on Monday to introduce identity cards for the first time in 50 years, in an attempt to clamp down on terrorism and illegal immigration.

But Home Secretary David Blunkett admitted the high-tech ID cards would by no means protect the country against terror attacks as he prepared for a drawn-out battle with civil liberties groups and parliamentarians over the draft legislation.

In the past, Britons have only had to carry ID cards in wartime, unlike most Europeans. The last compulsory identity papers were abolished in 1952 by the government of Winston Churchill.

"It won't solve the problem (of terrorism) ... nor will it necessarily guarantee safety for the future but it will make a contribution," Blunkett told BBC Radio.

The card would protect public services and discourage clandestine entry and organized fraud, he said.

The government plans to set up a national database of people's facial dimensions, iris images and fingerprints and pilot trials began across the country Monday with 10,000 volunteers to test the technology.

Voluntary ID cards will not be introduced until 2007 -- after the next general election -- and they are not expected to be made compulsory until 2013, and only if the sitting government and parliament agrees.

Blunkett said the cards will help the police crack down on identity theft.

"Multiple or false identities are used in more than a third of terrorist-related activity and in organized crime and money laundering," he said in a statement.

But he accepted ID cards would not have stopped the Madrid train bombings in March. Spain has a system of identity cards although the cards do not carry biometric data.

The government also believes the cards will be effective in the fight against illegal immigration.

But the plans for ID cards have outraged many civil liberties campaigners and parliamentarians who say they are unworkable and an invasion of privacy.

The government hopes to bring a bill before parliament later this year.

Biometric data will first be introduced to passports and driving licenses before ID cards are issued.

The government expects 80 per cent of the economically active population would have an ID card by 2013 if passports are issued with biometrics.

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