BRITAIN: Home Secretary Mr David Blunkett has taken Britain another incremental step toward the creation of the country's first compulsory ID card scheme in peacetime.
Under draft legislation published yesterday, MPs will have until 2013 to decide if registration should be compulsory. By that time, however, ministers believe 80 per cent of the population will already possess new "biometric" identification in the form of a passport, driving licence or voluntary ID card.
Mr Blunkett and the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, have attempted to reassure civil liberties campaigners it would not be obligatory for citizens to carry the ID card even if, as is widely expected, registration for one becomes compulsory over the next decade.
However Mr Blunkett signalled yesterday that people refusing to register could face a "civil financial penalty" of up to £2,500. And police would have the right to scan the eyes and faces of suspects who failed to produce their identity cards on demand.
Testing of the technology for the £3 billion scheme is already under way with yesterday's launch of a pilot project involving 10,000 volunteers in London who will have their face, iris and fingerprint biometrics recorded.
The position of Irish citizens living in Britain remains unclear, amid continuing speculation either that the Irish government will be obliged to develop its own ID card or, alternatively, that they could be obliged to register as foreign nationals for the purpose of obtaining a residency permit.
Cabinet divisions have also prevented Mr Blunkett defining which services will in future be accessible only upon production of an ID card.
The Home Secretary conceded yesterday that the introduction of ID cards would offer no guarantee against terrorist attack. "It can't, but it will make a big difference to the operation of the counter-terrorism and security services," he said.
With identity fraud now costing Britain £1.3 billion a year, Mr Blunkett said that false identities were used in organised crime, money laundering and more than a third of all terrorist-related activity.
The Home Office last night contradicted Mr Blunkett's suggestion that Queen Elizabeth would be required to register for an ID card.
When asked if compulsion would extend to members of the royal family, Mr Blunkett had earlier replied: "We are all subjects and citizens."