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UK National ID Cards


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*Public Meeting on the Identity Card
On May 19th, PI will hold a public event focusing on the UK government's proposed identity card. The meeting will hear from key figures in the fields of law, politics, security, technology and human rights.

PI Releases Study on ID Cards and Terrorism; ID Card Bill Published
Privacy International has released a new study "Mistaken Identity: Exploring the Relationship Between National Identity Cards & the Prevention of Terrorism". The report finds that there is no evidence that national ID cards reduce terrorism.The Government has released its draft bill. PI press release.

What else could we buy for the £6 billion* cost of a national ID card?
Following the Prime Minister's announcement that a compulsory ID card is likely to be introduced swiftly, Privacy International proposes a "Top Ten" list of alternative ways to spend the £6 billion.*

  1. Building 600 new schools @ £10 million each
  2. Building 30 new hospitals @ £200 million each
  3. Paying for 10,000 more police for the next ten years
  4. Giving each of Britain's poorest 6 million pensioners and families a £1,000 windfall gift
  5. More than doubling the total UK Gift Aid to charities and voluntary organisations
  6. Increasing the total investment in new technology by a quarter over four years
  7. Paying 75% of the funds required for urgent rail track upgrades
  8. Doubling the combined budget for medical research and research & development within the NHS for five years
  9. Doubling the budget for the Sure Start early education and childcare programme for eight years
  10. Indefinitely halving the cost of Top-Up fees

*This figure is based on the proposed £77 per card for 60 million people plus compliance costs, card replacement costs, back-up system costs, enhanced visa application and "non standard" biographical footprint checking that the government did not include in its estimates.

 

Last Chance to Comment on UK ID Card Proposal
With only a few weeks left in the UK government's "silent consultation" on the National ID card, The government is still publicly claiming that there is majority support for ID cards, so now is the time to register your concern. Privacy International and STAND have joined forces to open the consultation fully to the public. You can prepare and send a response to the Home Office through STAND's online service. Alternatively, you can leave a phone message stating your views. Privacy International has set up two local rate numbers: in favour of ID Card: 0845 330 7245, against the ID Card: 0845 330 7246. Each message left on these lines will be converted to an audio file, and then emailed to the Home Office. The government has confirmed that these will be regarded as legitimate consultation responses. The consultation ends on January 31.

ID Card Proposal Receives No Confidence Vote in Public Hearing
Privacy International's 11 December public meeting on the UK government's "Entitlement Card" proposal resulted in a unanimous vote of no-confidence in the plan. 250 participants, representing trades unions, business, media and the general public took a vote at the end of a three hour debate to extend the consultation period by a further six months. It also voted that the government should become "properly involved in creating a genuine public debate".

The Home Office Minister Lord Falconer went head-to-head with Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesman Simon Hughes, Daily Telegraph editor Charles Moore and former Social Security secretary Peter Lilley in the first comprehensive debate on the proposals. Senior representatives from the areas of childrens' rights, patients' rights and race relations condemned the ID card plan, undermining the government's carefully orchestrated PR campaign which has claims broad-scale support for the initiative.

The government came under fire from the outset of the debate for failing to engage the public in a national dialogue on the card. The previous evening, the Home Office had informed Privacy International that it was withdrawing its key official from the proceedings.  See the PI UK ID Card Page for more information.

PI to Hold Public Meeting on UK ID Card Proposal
Privacy International is organising a public meeting on the UK Government's Entitlement Card proposal on 11 December 2002 at the London School of Economics. Speakers include Lord Falconer and Stephen Harrison, Head of the Entitlement Cards Unit, Home Office. Location and registration information.

PI Launches UK ID Card Web Page, Releases Guide and FAQ on ID Cards.
Privacy International launched this new web page on the ID Cards in the UK on July 13 to provide a comprehensive resource on the new "Entitlement Card" scheme and the past history of ID cards in the UK. As part of the new site, PI has released a new FAQ on the National ID card and a guide to responding to the consultation document along with historical overviews of the ID cards.

UK ID Card Proposals Consultation Paper Released
The Home Office issued its consultation paper on an "entitlement card" on July 3. Home Secretary David Blunkett said he was "enthusiastic" about adopting it. The card would be mandatory to obtain for all persons over 16 and would be required for employment and health care and cost over £3 billion pounds to install, not including all the devices to use it. The proposal has already been criticized by members of all political parties and major media. 

 Privacy International Materials

The "Entitlement Card"

 

In September 2001, following the tragic events in the United States, Home Secretary David Blunkett said that the government was "very seriously" considering introducing a card. He told The Guardian, "I am giving it a fairly high priority. It would be quite wrong to make a snap announcement when we have not had the chance to think through the implications. There are much broader issues about entitlement and citizenship and not just security to be considered." The Observer reported on 30 September that an mandatory ID card will be introduced, "to use public services, including schools and hospitals, under plans being drawn up by the Home Office."

A hastily commissioned poll conducted just a few days after the event by News of the World found that 85% of Britons supported a national ID card but as with a similar 1989 poll, the level of support dropped as the public understanding improves.

Opposition grew quickly. Former Home Office Minister Mike O'Brian said,

Ministers have recognised that our aim is to seek to protect freedom and democracy, and therefore each time we are forced to undermine these values, terrorists will claim it as a victory.

Scotland's Justice Minister Jim Wallace vowed to oppose the plan in Scotland, challenging the right of Westminster to impose the cards on Scotland. The Liberal Democrats expressed concern over the ID card proposal. Charles Kennedy noted, "If Britain or America had ID cards it would not have done anything to stop what the head-cases did."

This lead to Blunkett backing down from his proposal in October 2001.

In February 2002, it returned as an "entitlement card" designed to help people obtain government services.

In July, Home Secretary David Blunkett released the consultation paper on the "entitlement card", a renamed ID card that while having all the characteristics of a national ID card, was not actually a national ID card, even though all people over 16 will be required to have one under penalty of law and it will be required for heath care, getting a job and other "entitlements".  The only concession for the moment is that people would not be required to carry it at all times. The consultation is supposed to run until January and Blunkett claims that no decision has been made but he admitted that he is enthusiastic" about adopting it. When questioned about it, Blunkett also said, "this is degenerating into a contest with intellectual pygmies."

Response to the card has been highly critical across the political spectrum.  It has been criticized by Labour backbenchers and leaders of Conservative, Liberal Democrats and Scottish Nationalists parties. The shadow home secretary Oliver Letwin said,  "In place of clarity and definition, we have here obscurity and spin." There  have been editorials against it in the Guardian, Times, Telegraph, and Sun, among other papers.
2001-03 Documents and News Stories

Home Office Consultation Paper, July 2002. Comments Due 31 January 2003

PI Responses

Other Campaign Groups

Newspaper Editorials and opinions

  News Stories

2001 News Stories

History of ID Cards in the United Kingdom

 

During World War II, a national ID card was established to facilitate identification of aliens. Persons were required to carry the card at all times and show it on demand to police and members of the armed forces. In 1951, Acting Lord Chief Justice, Lord Goddard ruled that police demanding that individuals show their ID cards was unlawful because it was not relevant to the purposes for which the card was adopted. This ruling led the the repealing of the National Registration Act and the end of the national ID card in the UK in 1952. (see below for decision)

Since that time, there have been numerous attempts by the government to reintroduce the card. The purposes for the card have varied, from tax administration, immigration, and drivers licenses to football hooliganism.

The most recent effort was in 1995, when Prime Minister John Major issued a consultation paper. There was considerable public and Cabinet opposition. The proposal was quietly set aside in 1996.

UK Home Office Green Paper, "Identity Cards - A Consultation", 1995

Older Documents

  • House of Commons Debate on the National Identity Card Bill, 10 February 1989.
  • LORD GODDARD, Willcock v. Muckle, 26 June 1951. Decision that led to Parliament's repeal of National ID card in 1952,

    "it is obvious that the police now, as a matter of routine, demand the production of national registration indemnity cards whenever they stop or interrogate a motorist for whatever cause. Of course, if they are looking for a stolen car or have reason to believe that a particular motorist is engaged in committing a crime, that is one thing, but to demand a national registration identity card from all and sundry, for instance, from a lady who may leave her car outside a shop longer than she should, or some trivial matter of that sort, is wholly unreasonable.

    This Act was passed for security purposes, and not for the purposes for which, apparently, it is now sought to be used. To use Acts of Parliament, passed for particular purposes during war, in times when the war is past, except that technically a state of war exists, tends to turn law-abiding subjects into lawbreakers, which is a most undesirable state of affairs. Further, in this country we have always prided ourselves on the good feeling that exists between the police and the public and such action tends to make the people resentful of the acts of the police and inclines them to obstruct the police instead of to assist them

    ...

    They ought not to use a Security Act, which was passed for a particular purpose, as they have done in this case. For these reasons, although the court dismisses the appeal, it gives no costs against the appellant."

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PI International ID Card Page

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Last updated 12 January 2003.

URL: http://www.privacyinternational.org/issues/idcard/uk/