David
Blunkett has announced that the government is to work towards
building a UK-wide computerised identity database immediately - the
first steps towards the creation on a compulsory national identity
card scheme.
The Home Secretary
estimated the project could cost between £1.6bn and £3.1bn
and could take 10 years.
The first stage
will be to set up the technology for a computerised biometric
passport scheme in the next two or three years with driving
licences to follow two years later.
Mr Blunkett said
that by 2013 he expected 80% or more of the population to have
effective ID cards through biometric passports or driving licences,
paving the way for a compulsory scheme provided the Cabinet of the
day approved it and Parliament voted in favour of it.
Politicians and IT
experts have cast doubt on the Home Office's ability to manage such
a massive computer project after a string of recent disastrous
schemes.
The move is also
likely to face opposition from some cabinet members and civil
liberties groups who are opposed to an ID card scheme.
The cost of a
passport and driving licence is set to almost double under the
proposals, as the government demands extra identity details, such
as fingerprints or iris recognition, as the first stage towards
bringing in a national ID card scheme.
Blunkett told MPs
yesterday that in future every time people renew their passport or
driving licence their "biometric" details would be logged on a
national computerised data base whether they wanted it or not.
In his Commons
statement at Westminster, Blunkett said that European Union
countries and the US were moving towards "biometric" passports.
He said that over
the next two to three years the Home Office and the passport agency
would build a system where all renewed passports would include
basic personal information, a digital photo and at least two
"biometric" identifiers such as facial recognition, iris scans or
fingerprints.