---

Identity Cards Bill

I did not intend to speak in the debate but as there is some time I should like to make a couple of brief points. The first concerns spiralling costs. At the beginning of the project, the cost of identity cards was meant to be £15. It then went up to £35 and was linked to the passport and went up to £77. The latest estimate is £93. It takes a great deal of trust and confidence to think that it will not continue to rise. We all know that there are significant risks to the costs involved in the project. That is one reason why many people, even those who support the scheme, are suggesting that there needs to be greater transparency. In my constituency, the turnover of people is in the region of 20 to 30 per cent. annually. The electoral register cannot keep up because of that movement. If addresses are to be included, as was suggested earlier, the costs will spiral, especially in urban areas such as Greater London. So far we have not mentioned inaccuracy, but there will be substantial inaccuracies—there are in every computer system that we have. Sorting them out will undoubtedly lead to major increases in cost. There will also be great public concern about security. Making the system even more secure will cost money. There has been much talk about the location of the centres for biometric identification. We can be sure that, whatever number the Government come up with, we will need to double it to satisfy the public. The time taken to go through the identification process will be much greater than estimated. If we add function creep and the inflation of the amount of information that is kept in the system—all are consequences of a mandatory scheme—one can envisage costs spiralling out of control. How can we make the scheme proportionate to the likely limited benefits that it can deliver? That cost-benefit analysis has not been done. We have talked a lot about the financial cost but there are also related social costs. One of the great disappointments of the Home Affairs Committee report was that it steered clear of that argument. It behoves the Chamber to discuss those costs. Let us consider the 51 pieces of information that will be held on an individual. They require 13 different biometric tests. If that is not information overkill, I do not know what is. That is not proportionate to the likely benefits. I hope that, if nothing else, the Government will at least listen to the anxieties that are being expressed; otherwise, first the Home Office and then the Government will be shafted.