http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4577087.stm
The government’s latest plans for compulsory identity cards are set to be unveiled by Charles Clarke.
The home secretary said he accepted genuine worries had been raised about the previous bill, which was dropped ahead of the general election.
The Conservatives say they will oppose the introduction of the controversial cards unless ministers “conclusively prove” they are needed.
The Lib Dems oppose the plans and some Labour MPs have civil liberties fears.
Mr Clarke will unveil the latest ID Cards Bill in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
The Home Office has estimated that ID theft costs Britain £1.3bn a year.
Earlier this week, Mr Clarke urged Labour MPs opposed to the scheme to examine proposed “safeguards” in the bill.
He also offered to meet critics to discuss their concerns, which are centred on civil liberty issues.
He promised that information held on people through the cards would not be “substantial”.
“I believe it is critically important that we do tackle the issues of identity fraud,” he said.
“What I hope is that we can have a rational discussion about the various issues.”
The Conservatives initially voted for the ID card legislation in the last Parliament but abstained in the key Commons vote, saying the plans had to pass five tests.
The tests included issues connected to the technology and a call for the bill to “clearly define” the purpose of the cards.
‘Fundamental change’
Mr Clarke said the new legislation answered concerns raised by shadow home secretary David Davis.
He urged the Tories to shed the “fig-leaf” of opposition that it had put up to cover repeated shifts in its stance on the measure.
Mr Davis, however, stood by the actions of the Tories and said he could not currently recommend his party supported the bill.
“On an issue of this importance, one that represents such a fundamental change in the relationship between the citizen and the state, the government must make the case and conclusively prove the need for such a change,” he said.
He pointed to “extreme doubts” raised by experts about the viability of the technology and asked why the bill was being pushed through while those questions were unanswered.
“The database is the thing that makes this a change of relationship between the individual and the state. And they have no answer as to how they are going to protect that database,” said Mr Davis.
“Your only answer to this was: other people are doing the same thing. Well, I have to say that is a pretty weak answer on something as important as this.”
Chance of defeat
Liberal Democrat spokesman Mark Oaten accused the Tories of “sitting on the fence” over the issue.
“If they were to have the courage to come off that fence and to join with the Liberal Democrats, and I hope many on the Labour back benches, who share this view, we could defeat the ID card scheme,” he said.
Senior backbencher Gwyneth Dunwoody said some Labour MPs were uneasy about the scheme.
“The history of police forces or governments holding every element of information about people’s lives is not that they are always used responsibly, but used in some instances by governments for the worst possible reasons,” she said.
