Clarke faces ID cards rebellion

[R.A. Hettinga]

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/uk_news/politics/4109681.stm>

The BBC

Sunday, 19 December, 2004, 23:41 GMT

 Clarke faces ID cards rebellion Charles Clarke faces his first real test
as home secretary on Monday with a possible backbench rebellion over the
controversial ID cards bill.

 Up to 30 Labour MPs could oppose the scheme during a Commons debate.

 Mr Clarke, who took on the post on Thursday after David Blunkett quit, has
rejected calls to "pause" on the bill.

 Conservative leader Michael Howard also faces a challenge to his authority
as he fights a shadow cabinet battle to get his party to back the measures.

 Jail terms

Senior Tory team members are expected to "go missing" rather than fall into
line.

 "  I certainly shall not pause - I will go ahead with the legislation "
 Home Secretary Charles Clarke



 Mr Clarke is expected to try and win over opponents to the scheme by
saying officials who secretly accessed information they were not allowed to
see would face up to two years in jail.

 He is also expected to announce cut-price ID cards for the elderly and
those on lower incomes.

 But that could push up the estimated #85 price tag, for the card and a
passport, for middle class voters.

 Speaking on his first day in office, Mr Clarke said he would "go ahead"
with the legislation.

 "But the question of how you put it into effect and what you do is a
matter of debate," he said.

 'Reconsider plans'

 Critics argue that introducing the cards would be a costly scheme with no
specific aim.

 Ministers say it would help the fight against terrorism, illegal
immigration and organised crime.

 But opponents say that similar schemes in other countries have not
prevented attacks like the Madrid rail bombing.

 Some Labour backbenchers have joined the Liberal Democrats in calling for
the plans to be reconsidered.

 'Real opportunity'

 On Sunday, Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy repeated his call for a "pause"
in considering the legislation.

 "  If you were running a family or a business would you have the second
reading... tomorrow or would you pause to reflect and see what you might do
about it in the New Year "
 Charles Kennedy



 He told BBC's Breakfast with Frost programme that Mr Clarke had a "real
opportunity" on Monday following the departure of Mr Blunkett.

 "If you were running a family or a business would you have the second
reading of the Identity Cards Bill tomorrow or would you pause to reflect
and see what you might do about it in the New Year?

 "That is the sensible way to go about it but I think this government has
got itself so much into tram lines now that it is not behaving sensibly at
all."

 The first cards would be issued in 2008 and, when he was introducing the
bill, Mr Blunkett suggested Parliament could decide in 2011 or 2012 whether
to make it compulsory for everybody to own the cards, although not to carry
them.

 The new bill would also create new criminal offences on the possession of
false identity documents.

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