From the Defy-ID mailing list – the outlines of Big Blunkett’s response to the Home Affairs committee’s report on his ID card scheme:
The Government is making good progress with its plans for national, compulsory ID cards, the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, said today as he published the Home Office’s response to the Home Affairs Select Committee’s report on ID cards.
A national, compulsory ID card scheme will ensure that the UK can meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. It will: help protect the UK against terrorism, organised crime, identity theft, illegal immigration and illegal working; allow UK citizens to travel and carry out everyday transactions easily and securely; and ensure that public services are only used by those entitled to them.
The Government is announcing today, in response to the comments of the
Home Affairs Select Committee, some refinements to the scheme, which are:
* A single, universal ID card for all UK nationals, to be issued alongside passports. This will simplify the operation of the scheme, and reflects public support for a universal card.
* A simpler, more effective structure to deliver and run the scheme. A new executive agency will be set up incorporating the UK Passport Service and working closely with the Home Office’s Immigration and Nationality Directorate.
* The verification process will be simpler and more secure. There will be a standardised on-line verification service which will make the system more secure against fraud and provide a full audit trail.
The changes will help ensure that the national ID card scheme will be efficient and effective, delivering maximum benefits.
Mr Blunkett said:
"Our plans to bring in a national ID card scheme lie at the heart of our work to ensure that the UK can meet the challenges of a changing world. Biometric ID cards will provide a simple and secure means of verifying identity. Together with electronic border controls they will help us tackle illegal migration and working, organised crime, terrorist activity, identity theft, and fraudulent access to public services, as well as helping our citizens travel freely and complete everyday transactions securely and easily. I am pleased that the Home Affairs Committee accepted the clear and convincing case in favour of a national ID card scheme.
"As I have made clear from the start, this is a long-term project and we are determined to get it right. Pre-legislative scrutiny and consultation are a key part of that approach, allowing us to continue to refine and improve plans for the operation of the scheme to ensure it is as effective and efficient as possible.
"I welcome the constructive suggestions the Home Affairs Committee and others have made, and the improvements to the scheme I am announcing today will make our planned scheme simpler, clearer and more effective. I will now bring forward legislation to bring in a compulsory, national ID card scheme."
The Home Office also published today a summary of responses to its
Public consultation on, and research into, the public’s views on ID cards.
Ho hum…. Big Blunkett’s response comes as no surprise. The man’s arrogance knows no bounds. Still he plies his nonsense about terrorism, crime and illegal immigration despite none of these arguments standing up to even the most scant of observation. As Trevor Mendham points out over at the UK ID blog:
The response is a work of stunning arrogance. Where the Home Affairs committee agreed with him he thanks them. Where they disagreed with him he simply restates his opinion.
Couldn’t agree more, Trevor.
—–