26 April 2007
Section 37 of the Identity Cards Act 2006 requires the Home Secretary to
publish his estimate of the ten-year cost of the ID scheme "before the end
of every six months". The first Dobson report [1] was published on 9th
October 2006. The next report is now more than two weeks overdue.
Phil Booth, NO2ID's [2] National Coordinator said:
“What’s the big secret – why the delay? It can't be lack of resources as
there are dozens of highly-paid consultants doing nothing but planning the
ID scheme. These latest cost estimates matter to local government and yet
the Government is hiding the cost to councils, even from its own candidates.
“The elections on May 3rd are a test for policy and the ID scheme is
unpopular. 1 in 3 people across the UK, if we are to believe
recently-revealed government figures [3], are expected to resist it. Labour
Party candidates, whatever their personal views on the scheme, suffer when
public attention is drawn to it. Is this yet another attempt to bury bad
news?”
-ENDS-
Notes for editors:
1) Frank Dobson MP (Lab) moved the amendment that created the report.
2) NO2ID is the UK-wide non-partisan campaign against ID cards and the
database state. Scroll down http://www.no2id.net for a list of ‘database
state’ initiatives that NO2ID is actively opposing. NO2ID is affiliated to
by the National Union of Journalists:
http://www.nuj.org.uk/inner.php?docid=1595
3) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6526225.stm – "A third 'will
refuse ID checks'", BBC News, 4/4/07.
For further information, or for immediate or future interview, please
contact Phil Booth (National Co-ordinator, national.coordinator@no2id.net)
on 07974 230 839, Guy Herbert (General Secretary,
general.secretary@no2id.net) on 07956 544 308, or Michael Parker (Press
Officer, press.officer@no2id.net) on 07773 376 166.
The NO2ID Campaign
Box 412
19-21 Crawford Street
London W1H 1PJ
enquiries@no2id.net
Tel: 07005 800 651
Press: click here
