There’s a row brewing between the treasury and the home office over plans to sneak in introduce cheap identity cards for the less well off.
“Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, was expected to announce proposals for a “low-tech” £30 ID card that, unlike the £93 version, could not be used as a driving licence or passport.”
I guess this comes as no great surprise as there always was a hint of it in the rhetoric. It does rather underline how low the home secretary will stoop to get public acceptance of the scheme. Buy off the poor. That the treasury should tell the home office that it hasn’t thought through the cost of the scheme properly is priceless. The LSE told them this earlier this year. At that time, the home secretary rejected the findings out of hand with the usual dismissive, contemptuous arrogance that has come to epitomize this administration. Will he reject the treasury in a similar manner?
Still, the article does hold a tiny glimmer of hope:
“The Conservatives say they would scrap ID cards. David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said they were “illiberal, impractical, expensive and unworkable”.”
This always presumes that they become electable, get elected and keep their promises…
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