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ID cards won't work

ID cards won't prevent terrorist attacks: The former Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, has admitted that ID cards would not have prevented the 7 July 2005 bombings in London, saying: 'I doubt if it would have made a difference'. In Spain, ID cards are compulsory, but they did not stop the Madrid bombings in March 2004.

ID cards won't prevent illegal immigration: Foreign visitors will not have to have an ID card, unless they plan to stay in the UK for more than three months.

ID cards won't prevent identity fraud: Microsoft's National Technology Officer, Jerry Fishenden, has said that introducing ID cards could make identity fraud worse, warning that it could 'trigger massive identity fraud on a scale on a scale beyond anything we have seen before'.

ID cards won't prevent human trafficking: ID cards are no substitute for a border police force and proper checks on people entering and leaving the country. In 1998, the Government abolished border controls, but its replacement, a computer-based e-borders scheme will not be fully installed until 2014.

ID cards are a waste of money

ID cards will cost each person £93: According to Government estimates, you will pay at least £93 for a combined ID card and passport package but, given this Government's appalling record of implementing IT projects, this figure is likely to go up. Also, if your ID card is stolen, or your lose it, you'll have to pay £30 for a replacement. If you change your name when you get married, you'll have to pay for a new ID card. If one of your relatives dies and you forget to return their ID card, you could be fined £1,000.

ID cards scheme will cost up to £20 billion in total: While the Government claims that the scheme will cost £5.4 billion of taxpayers' money, the independent London School of Economics estimates it will cost up to £20 billion.

ID cards could be another Government disaster: This Government has a terrible record of large scale IT disasters. For example, the botched introduction of the new Child Support Agency computer system led to a backlog of 250,000 cases; clerical errors and problems with the tax credits computer system led to millions of incorrect payments; and an audit of the Police National Computer by the Met Police found that 86 per cent of records were inaccurate.