The Scottish Parliament has voted against plans to introduce ID
cards.
MSPs
backed a motion which asserted the ID card scheme would not
increase security or deter crime, and would have serious
implications for civil liberties.
Labour MSPs did not back the motion. They said the Scottish
parliament should use its time to debate issues it has power
over.
The motion was passed with 68 votes to one, with 38
abstentions.
The motion was put forward by the Community Safety minister
Fergus Ewing, SNP member for Iverness.
He said during the debate that ID cards, with or without
biometrics, do not deter terrorist activity and that the vast
majority of terrorists operate under their true identities.
He added that the £5bn being spent on ID cards should be spent
on other things, and he quoted Jerry Fishenden, Microsoft's lead
technology adviser for the UK, who said holding huge collections of
personal data brings increasing and significant risks.
Bill Aitken, Conservative MSP for Glasgow, said, "An identity
card scheme would be acceptable if it worked, but the basic fact is
that it simply will not. The ID card scheme is an unnecessary
measure, which the Government should scrap."
Robert Brown, Liberal Democrat member for Glasgow, said the UK
government has "more information about the individual citizen than
any government in the known civilised world". The motion was
debated on Wednesday.