Dundee LibDem Councillors Helen Dick and Fraser Macpherson are opposing Labour plans for ID cards. A report by the London School of Economics prices the ID card system as costing up to £18 billion - an astounding £300 for every person in the country.
"People are waking up to what this is going to cost them - not just financially, but in terms of their privacy, their freedom, their very way of life. Our civil liberties are too high a price to pay, " Helen commented.
"These cards will do little to tackle crime or terrorism. Indeed the Madrid bombers had ID cards. In the twenty-first century terrorism has moved on and those determined to commit atrocities will certainly be able to obtain ID cards.
"The record of this Government in implementing new large computer systems shows there are often huge cost over-runs, delays and failures. Only this week we have seen problems with the tax credit computerised system with thousands facing financial hardship. This is new technology, better suited to improving security within corporate organisations. Even if we wanted ID cards, it is far too soon to use this proposed technology on a national scale. The Government's enthusiasm is inexplicable."
The LSE report predicts that the proposed identity and passport system would cost £12 - £18 billion over ten years. The cost estimates in question were drawn from a leaked section of the LSE's Identity Project, a six-month project into national identity systems, with a specific focus on the UK Identity Card Bill. This project involves a steering group of 14 professors, and a research group of nearly 100 academics, experts, and industry representatives from around the world.
