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| New doubt on compulsory ID cards | |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Gordon Brown could be preparing for a rethink on making ID cards compulsory, a senior Labour MP has suggested. | Gordon Brown could be preparing for a rethink on making ID cards compulsory, a senior Labour MP has suggested. |
| Keith Vaz, home affairs committee chairman, said the PM was taking a more "nuanced" approach to the issue. | Keith Vaz, home affairs committee chairman, said the PM was taking a more "nuanced" approach to the issue. |
| He spoke after Mr Brown said the plan to make cards compulsory would depend on how the voluntary scheme worked, as well as being subject to a vote by MPs. | He spoke after Mr Brown said the plan to make cards compulsory would depend on how the voluntary scheme worked, as well as being subject to a vote by MPs. |
| Mr Brown was responding to Tory leader David Cameron's demand that he say if he still favoured a compulsory scheme. | Mr Brown was responding to Tory leader David Cameron's demand that he say if he still favoured a compulsory scheme. |
| The question was prompted by a weekend interview in which Mr Brown said the scheme did not involve compulsion - and comments on Tuesday that compulsion was just an "option" left "open". | |
| The whole question of identity cards, which are opposed by Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, has been thrust into the spotlight again by the recent loss of data by the government. | The whole question of identity cards, which are opposed by Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, has been thrust into the spotlight again by the recent loss of data by the government. |
| Mr Vaz said the data loss problems were why his select committee - which has already carried out extensive investigations into ID cards - would be returning to the subject again in the next few weeks. | Mr Vaz said the data loss problems were why his select committee - which has already carried out extensive investigations into ID cards - would be returning to the subject again in the next few weeks. |
| 'Wriggle room' | 'Wriggle room' |
| Mr Vaz suggested this was a softening of the previous government rhetoric on the issue of ID cards. | Mr Vaz suggested this was a softening of the previous government rhetoric on the issue of ID cards. |
| Asked if the prime minister was creating "wriggle room" - for fear he will not get the scheme through Parliament - Mr Vaz said: ''I think there may well be a little bit of nuances being created here. | Asked if the prime minister was creating "wriggle room" - for fear he will not get the scheme through Parliament - Mr Vaz said: ''I think there may well be a little bit of nuances being created here. |
| It is the government's policy to move ahead with this but subject... to a vote in Parliament, depending on how the voluntary scheme works Gordon Brown on ID cards | It is the government's policy to move ahead with this but subject... to a vote in Parliament, depending on how the voluntary scheme works Gordon Brown on ID cards |
| He said his committee was to look again "at the issue of data protection in respect of ID cards because of what's happened over the last few weeks and the minister has agreed to come and see us in a fortnight's time and I think if there is going to be a change of policy, that will be a good opportunity to make it clear, that it has changed". | He said his committee was to look again "at the issue of data protection in respect of ID cards because of what's happened over the last few weeks and the minister has agreed to come and see us in a fortnight's time and I think if there is going to be a change of policy, that will be a good opportunity to make it clear, that it has changed". |
| Mr Vaz said ID cards for foreign nationals were effectively being used as a pilot to "see whether or not the information is then subsequently lost". | Mr Vaz said ID cards for foreign nationals were effectively being used as a pilot to "see whether or not the information is then subsequently lost". |
| "I don't think they can take another major loss of data in this way and that's why the select committee is going to look at it again," he added. | |
| The current scheme will see anyone applying for a passport having to give their biometric details for a national identity register, although it will be possible to opt-out of getting a card until January 2010. | The current scheme will see anyone applying for a passport having to give their biometric details for a national identity register, although it will be possible to opt-out of getting a card until January 2010. |
| Brown challenged | Brown challenged |
| But the government has always said a Commons vote would be held to make the scheme compulsory for all UK residents if Labour won the next election. | But the government has always said a Commons vote would be held to make the scheme compulsory for all UK residents if Labour won the next election. |
| The Home Office website says that the cards will become compulsory for all to have, and Tony Blair said, when he was prime minister, that making the cards compulsory would form a "major plank" of Labour's next manifesto. | The Home Office website says that the cards will become compulsory for all to have, and Tony Blair said, when he was prime minister, that making the cards compulsory would form a "major plank" of Labour's next manifesto. |
| But there has been speculation Mr Brown might do a U-turn on the issue, and in a weekend press interview he suggested the scheme might not become compulsory for existing citizens. | But there has been speculation Mr Brown might do a U-turn on the issue, and in a weekend press interview he suggested the scheme might not become compulsory for existing citizens. |
| Then at his monthly Downing Street media conference on Tuesday, Mr Brown the issue of compulsion was an "option" left "open" to a Commons vote. | Then at his monthly Downing Street media conference on Tuesday, Mr Brown the issue of compulsion was an "option" left "open" to a Commons vote. |
| In the Commons on Wednesday he was challenged to clarify his position by Tory leader David Cameron, who has said he would axe the scheme if he wins power. | In the Commons on Wednesday he was challenged to clarify his position by Tory leader David Cameron, who has said he would axe the scheme if he wins power. |
| Mr Brown said: "It is the government's policy to move ahead with this but subject, I have to tell him, to a vote in Parliament depending on how the voluntary scheme works." | Mr Brown said: "It is the government's policy to move ahead with this but subject, I have to tell him, to a vote in Parliament depending on how the voluntary scheme works." |
| Former Home Secretary David Blunkett, who introduced the initial identity card bill, told the BBC on Tuesday the scheme would not work unless everyone had to have a card. | Former Home Secretary David Blunkett, who introduced the initial identity card bill, told the BBC on Tuesday the scheme would not work unless everyone had to have a card. |
| "In my opinion, without it being mandatory, there is little point in doing it," he added. | "In my opinion, without it being mandatory, there is little point in doing it," he added. |