THE decision to introduce ID cards, to be trialled in the North West, is a 'no brainer' Home Secretary Alan Johnson said as he unveiled the card's design.

Speaking at St Pancras Station in central London, Mr Johnson said the card would provide people with a 'safe and secure' way of proving their identity.

The cards will help combat identity fraud, enable the holder to travel to Europe without their passports and remove the hassle of using bank statements or gas bills to show who you are, he said.

Mr Johnson spoke as he set off for Manchester where the cards will become available later this year.

He said: "The identity card is a safe, secure and simple way for people to protect and prove their identity and to travel around Europe but leave their passport at home.

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"Given the growing problem of ID fraud and the inconvenience of having to carry passports coupled with gas bills or six months worth of bank statements to prove identity, I believe the ID card will be welcomed as an important addition to the many plastic cards that most people already carry."

On the front of each card is the holder's name, picture, date of birth, sex and signature. Like the UK passport, it also displays your nationality, where it was issued and when it expires. A chip embedded in the back of the card holds a digital image of the holder's face and two fingerprints.

The front of the card also displays the royal crest as well as the thistle, the rose, the shamrock and the daffodil to represent the four parts of the UK.

The cards will be made available across the north west of England early next year and across the country in 2011-12. The Tories have pledged to scrap the scheme saying it is a waste of money.

Mr Johnson said the cards had widespread public support.

“Every time we ask the public 'do you think this is a good step forward,' they agree.

“This is a no-brainer.”

Last month the Home Office signalled a major climbdown on the cards, stating for the first time that they would never be made compulsory.

Plans to require 20,000 airport workers at Manchester and London City airports to carry cards were also dropped in the face of union opposition.

Critics say ID cards are unnecessary, expensive and an infringement of civil liberties.

The overall cost of the cards, biometric passports and the database to hold the personal information on is predicted at £5 billion over 10 years.

Figures released by the Tories today showed the Home Office has already spent £215 million on the scheme.

Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling said: “The Government has already wasted £200 million that we cannot afford.

“The scheme will cost hundreds of million pounds more, even if the cards are voluntary. It is time this scheme was completely scrapped. ”

He added: “Alan Johnson today launches a wing and a prayer scheme based on the hope that people across the North West will sign up for a glossy ID card, and send a message to their counterparts in other parts of the country that the ID card is the hottest property since Susan Boyle.”

The scheme will cost hundreds of million pounds more, even if the cards are voluntary. It is time this scheme was completely scrapped

Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling