York Liberal Democrats continue to fight 'plastic poll tax' ID cards (York Liberal Democrats)

York Liberal Democrats <info@yorklibdems.org.uk>

York Liberal Democrats continue to fight 'plastic poll tax' ID cards

June 27, 2005 4:08 PM

City of York Liberal Democrats will continue to oppose the government's unworkable and sinister ID card scheme. The ID card Bill is set for its second reading in the House of Commons tomorrow (Tuesday 28th June), with Liberal Democrat MPs ready to oppose the government's programme.

Cllr Andrew Waller, Deputy Leader of City of York Council, said "it is vital that the public are aware of the full implications of the proposed ID cards. Research published today by the London School of Economics puts the cost of a card at £110, a 'plastic poll tax' on each citizen. Even more worrying are the possible costs of up to £18 billion to set up the scheme."

"The government is keen to state that a 'majority' of the public are in favour of the cards. However, that support drops sharply once people understand the cost of an ID card, and the real risk of their personal information ending up in the wrong hands," continued Cllr. Waller. "The current government only received 35% of votes cast in the election, yet they are pressing ahead with this most contentious policy."

The Liberal Democrats have long argued that a more effective way to tackle crime would be to use the money to fund more police officers instead. Cllr Waller said "imagine the impact on crime in York if 30 more police officers were recruited here, instead of an expensive piece of plastic being forced into the pocket of every law-abiding citizen. I urge York's Labour MP, Hugh Bayley, to reconsider his support for Blair's foolish and wasteful scheme."

Hundreds of people contacted the Liberal Democrats during the general election campaign, concerned about ID cards. Cllr. Waller will be writing to them, to encourage them to join the growing No2ID campaign in the City, including signing the pledge to refuse to carry an ID card if the scheme ever comes into existence.

It is worth remembering that the government has constantly changed its reasons for introducing ID cards. First, they claimed ID cards would prevent terrorism - but this was exposed as being an unlikely consequence. Next the government claimed the cards would prevent benefit fraud. However, 90% of benefit fraud would not be caught. This is because most benefit fraud occurs when people are working and claiming at the same time, which they would still be able to do. Now, the government claims that ID cards will help to prevent identity theft. However, dedicated fraudsters will be able to get around the ID card system, as surely as they can produce fake passports today.