The government has made "substantial material errors and
misrepresentation of fact" in its response to a London School of
Economics report on ID cards, the college has said.
But the LSE also welcomed the Home Office's willingness to
engage with critics and respond to the LSE's report, which claims
that plans for ID cards could cost as much as £19bn to implement –
around twice the government's estimates.
At the same time, the LSE said the Home Office's response contained
"substantial material errors and misrepresentation of fact.
"It also sets out rebuttals that cite material which is not
relevant to the points in question. On a number of critical issues,
HO's response rebuts aspects of the LSE report without providing
alternative data."
The LSE said the Home Office had also chosen to disregard the
vast majority of its report. "Comprehensive sections on identity
fraud, policing, crime, national security, counter-terrorism,
discrimination, international obligations and the UK IT environment
have been ignored," the LSE said.
The Home Office is preparing a response to the LSE's latest
comments.
