Lib Dems says no2id

Shepway Lib Dems are backing to no2id campaign against a compulsory id card scheme and national identity database. The local Liberal Democrats will be backing the campaign on their web site, and also through local campaigning.

The scheme will be phased in from 2007-08 when those applying for a new or renewed passport will also have to get an ID card. Although the holding of cards will initially be voluntary, the Home Office hopes later to persuade Parliament to make them compulsory - possibly from as early as 2010.

The Home Office will not put a figure on the cost of setting up the cards system, saying it is commercially sensitive. But the scheme will cost an estimated £584m to run every year - a cost of £93 per card, compared with an estimated cost of £85 per card in November. Any ID card project would be one of the largest IT projects initiated by the government, with Home Office estimates putting the cost at around £5.5bn, over 10 years.

Some critics warn that, rather than reducing identity theft, establishing a centralised identity database could actually increase the incidence of identity theft.

The Lib Dems nationally are opposed to the plans in principle and spokesman Mark Oaten seized on the latest cost figures.

"We have always argued this is a project that is going to run out of control financially," he said.

Trials of ID cards have also revealed problems with the scanning systems central to the project.

"Biometrics" such as fingerprints, iris images or face scans will be used for the cards but the trials found that not all people could use all the systems.

It was harder to scan the irises of black people and over-59s, and some fingerprint scanners did not work with large fingers. None of the three systems tested (fingerprints, facial scans or iris scans) was always accurate, with facial scans proving accurate less than 50% of the time on some groups.

Some experts argue the technology may never be good enough.

Professor Angela Sasse, a biometrics expert who has advised MPs on the home affairs select committee, said biometric technologies were "a lot less mature" than manufacturers made out.

"To be honest, I think it is a possibility that eventually we will conclude it isn't good enough or that the current systems we're using aren't good enough for a large scale public domain application such as an ID card," she said.

NO2ID is a non-partisan campaigning group opposed to ID Cards and government by database. It has active groups throughout the UK.