ID card plan 'liable to abuse'

Plans for compulsory ID cards are untested, uncosted and liable to abuse, MPs are warning.

A bill implementing ID cards will be the flagship piece of legislation drawn up by Tony Blair for this November.

But the Labour-dominated home affairs committee is scathing about Home Office’s proposals.

MPs warn that the current scheme is full of loopholes and will hand security services “nearly unfettered access to information … without the knowledge of the ID card holder”.

They insist that technology for implanting a fingerprint record into a card is unproven.

The MPs say that private firms may be able to demand access to the full information held on an individual as a condition of providing a service.

The criticisms are bound to be seized on by Cabinet sceptics about the identity card plans. But Home Secretary David Blunkett has been delighted by new polls showing 80 per cent public backing for the idea.