Peers threaten to scupper ID card link to passports

Tony Blair’s plans to introduce identity cards have been attacked as “grandiose” and “dangerous” by peers preparing to inflict a damaging defeat on the issue in the House of Lords.

They are expected to vote today to reject the Government’s proposals obliging everyone renewing their passports to register on the database that will underpin the ID card scheme.

A defeat for the Government will set the scene for a trial of strength with the House of Commons.

Baroness Scotland, the Home Office minister called by colleagues “the Home Secretary in the Lords”, will tell peers that a compulsory ID card system is essential but the scheme will be undermined without the collection of passport data on a central register.

“Being able to prove who we are is a fundamental requirement in modern societies,” she said. “We have always been clear that the identity cards scheme is being designed and is intended, eventually, to become a compulsory scheme for all UK residents.

“A central part of that process is the linking of ID cards with passports as they are issued. This will enable us to proceed with a sensible, phased introduction so all UK residents aged over 16 can benefit from a universal, highly secure system for personal identity.”
But most Tories and many crossbench peers are expected to support a move by Lord Phillips of Sudbury, a Liberal Democrat peer, to defeat the passport plan.

Lord Phillips said: “The ID cards scheme is grandiose and potentially dangerous. It has not been thought through and has not been properly costed.

“If it becomes compulsory for everyone obtaining or renewing a passport to join the ID cards register, it will further break down trust between the citizen and the state.”

Baroness Anelay of St Johns, a Tory home affairs spokesman, will lead the alliance against ID cards. “The Government could be outgunned given the strength of opinion here,” an opposition source said.

The Government was beaten in eight votes the last time the ID Cards Bill was in the Lords. Ministers accepted one of the defeats but the rest were overturned in the Commons.

Peers will this time train their fire on the controversial passport proposal, which both sides acknowledge is fundamental to the ID cards scheme.

Critics protest that it amounts to “compulsion by the back door” and contradicts Labour’s manifesto commitment that ID cards would be voluntary.

Colin Brown