Tory motion will allow House of Commons to discuss controversial scheme and examine if the government has made a U-turn or not

MPs are to debate ID card policy in the House of Commons on Monday (6 July) in a motion called by the Tory Party.

There has been growing speculation in recent weeks about the future of the controversial scheme.

Source: Computing

The rollout of identity cards will be accelerated under new proposals set out today by Home Secretary Alan Johnson, highlighting the benefits of identity cards to those who need them most.

In addition to residents of Greater Manchester, who will be able to apply for an Identity card before the end of this year, residents in locations across the North West will be entitled to apply from early next year.

Source: Identity & Passport Service

A compulsory identity card trial for pilots and 30,000 other airport workers due to start in September has been abandoned by the new home secretary, Alan Johnson. But he intends to accelerate other elements of the scheme, including plans to issue £30 voluntary ID cards to young adults across north-west England. Johnson is also looking at making ID cards free for over-75s.

Source: The Guardian

Recognising the huge value and importance of individuals’ identity information and tackling variations in how information is used across Government, ‘Safeguarding Identity’ is the focus of a new strategy launched today, 23 June 2009. The initiative has been led by IPS on behalf of Government and involved more than 12 departments and agencies. Building on a wide range of work already underway (including Directgov and the National Identity Service), it aims to deliver a common framework for the use and handling of individuals’ identity information.

Source: Identity & Passport Service
Hat tip: Improbulus

They have urged newly-appointed Home Secretary Alan Johnson to cancel the £1.1billion UK-wide project.

Holyrood Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing said: “Given the current financial climate, I believe the UK Government should have better uses for the vast sums of money being spent on this scheme.”

Source: SundayMail.co.uk
via: PogoWasRight.org

The government should scrap two key IT projects and recast them in a way that fits a truly digital Britain, says Microsoft’s former national technology officer for the UK.

Jerry Fishenden, who last week left Microsoft after 12 years, said the national ID cards scheme and the Interception Modernisation Programme, otherwise known as the government’s Big Brother database, reflected an out-of-date understanding of what the digital world was truly about.

Fishenden said the privacy and security of personal data on the web was the crucial issue facing society as more and more information is stored in digital format.

Source: ComputerWeekly.com

The information commissioner has ordered the opening of confidential files on a wide range of high-risk IT projects, including the ID cards scheme, joined up police intelligence systems and the NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT). It is the most far-reaching decision under the Freedom of Information Act for government IT.

Source: Computer Weekly

The Home Office confirmed yesterday it is delaying awarding the key contract for the national ID card project - actually making the cards for UK citizens.

Fujitsu, IBM and Thales were all in the running to make the cards. But this contract will not now be awarded until autumn 2010 - after the general election, which at the moment is the Tories’ to lose.

Source: The Register

The Tories have written to five firms bidding to supply ID cards warning them not to sign any long-term contracts.

In the letter, shadow home secretary Chris Grayling says one of his party’s first acts, if it wins the next general election, would be to scrap the scheme.

Source: BBC News

Alan Johnson, the home secretary, has launched an urgent review of the £6 billion identity card (ID) scheme, paving the way for a possible U-turn on one of Labour’s flagship policies.
Johnson, who was promoted in Gordon Brown’s latest cabinet reshuffle, is understood to be “sympathetic” to critics who claim identity cards will undermine civil liberties.
The home secretary told officials that he wanted a “first principles” rethink of the plan, which was launched by Tony Blair following the 9/11 attacks in 2001 and has since been championed by Brown as a way of fighting terrorism.