Labour  Conservatives  Liberal Democrats
ID Cards
  In Favour
  Against  Against


Below is an overview of each parties policy.

 
Source: Home Office website (09/07/08)

ID cards will provide legal UK residents, including foreign nationals, with an easy and secure way of proving who they are.

ID cards will be linked to their owners by unique biometric identifiers (for example, fingerprints), which mean we will have a much stronger way of protecting people's identities. Background checks will ensure that claimed identities are real and not stolen, and will prevent criminals using multiple identities. The exact format of an ID card isn’t yet decided but it’s likely that it will be a credit card-sized plastic card featuring the holder’s photograph and a computer chip storing basic personal information.




Source: Conservatives website (09/07/08)

ID cards won't work

ID cards won't prevent terrorist attacks
ID cards won't prevent illegal immigration:
ID cards won't prevent identity fraud:
ID cards won't prevent human trafficking:

ID cards are a waste of money

ID cards will cost each person £93

ID cards are an invasion of privacy

ID cards give the State too much personal data in one place
ID cards mean intrusive interviews and fingerprinting





Source: Liberal Democrats website (09/07/08)

Expensive

Introducing Labour's mandatory ID card scheme is likely to cost every taxpayer at least £200. And then we will each be charged over £90 to obtain one of the new combined ID cards and passports.

Intrusive

Ineffective

Spain's ID cards did not prevent the Madrid atrocities. Stella Rimington, the ex-head of MI5, says "I don't think that anybody in the intelligence services ... would be pressing for ID cards". Also, relying on one form of ID may well make problems worse - both America and Australia have far worse problems of identity theft than the UK because both of them rely on a single, widely used, identity number.