Prime minister Gordon Brown has again defended the introduction
of
national ID cards, in a speech to the Institute for Public
Policy Research (IPPR).
He told an IPPR conference yesterday, "I believe it [a national
ID card scheme] can make a powerful contribution on an individual
level to our personal security.
"Opponents of the identity card scheme like to suggest that its
sole motivation is to enhance the power of the state. But, in fact,
it starts from a recognition of the importance of something which
is fundamental to the rights of the individual: the right to have
your identity protected and secure.
"This is why, despite years of exaggeration about its costs and
its implications for liberty, public support for it remains so
strong.
"We must match our efforts to improve our security with stronger
safeguards on liberty. We have no plans for it to become compulsory
for people to carry an ID card.
"We have made this clear in the legislation - that the identity
card scheme will not be used to place new requirements on
people.
"But, on those occasions in everyday life where people already
have to carry ID - if they want to prove their age, or open a bank
account, or apply for a job, or register with a GP - it will
provide a better, more convenient and more secure way of doing it,
not just relying on a couple of utility bills. And in a way that
meets a national standard."
Brown said a
new generation of passports will require travellers to register
their biometrics to protect against passport fraud, including
digital photographs, finger-scans and, in some cases, iris scans.
This was happening across the world, he said.
"The question is whether, in the interests of wider security, we
should go beyond this to a
national identity scheme - not just for passports, but also to
help inside our borders in the fight against crime, illegal
working, benefit fraud and terrorism."
Brown said the national ID scheme had been redesigned so that
people's names and addresses will be kept on a separate database
from their photographs and biometrics.
"I believe that the new plan for the ID card scheme, announced
by the home secretary in March, includes important steps in the
direction of the principle of 'data minimisation'.
"We are working with the information commissioner to ensure that
he has full oversight of how this information is stored and
protected and used," said Brown.
Phil Booth, national co-ordinator of
anti national ID scheme group
NO2ID, said, "Perhaps Gordon Brown simply does not get IT. He
says he is satisfied the ID scheme "minimises information", when
the reverse is the case - it is designed as a mass-surveillance
scheme like nothing else on earth."