What part of WE DON'T WANT THEM don't you understand?

Lord Brett admitted the cards would not by themselves 'provide a silver bullet' in the fight against terrorism, but he said: "The security services and the police believe it will be a helpful tool in that task."

Just the same as we already have then...But more sinister and pernicious

At you noticed how the price keeps going down? Accept them and watch the price shoot up.

Watch people being arrested because they have slipped out for a bottle of milk without out. A 1000 pound civil penalty and a criminal record.

This must be the most incompetent government in history. Put your trust in them at your own peril.

Erm, there's at least 3 universities, mr brett

What a waste of money. Listen carefully NOBODY WANTS THEM, in the same way that nobody wanted the Con charge! Do something useful that will be popular,hold a Euro referendum!

"The minister claimed the cards would provide 'a secure and unique identity' for holders."

Really? That'll explain how Adam Laurie was able to edit one, and have it pass one of the Home Offices own software checks then...

It's not worth paying the £30 for as we know the Tories will scrap them and I'd bet more on them getting in next May than this lot we have now.

It's not quite true to say they can be used instead of a passport.I have neither a passport or driving licence and was therefore unable to fly on a domestic Easyjet flight.I've just enquired and have been told by them that an ID card will not be accepted as a form of ID.I'm waiting for Ryanair and Jet 2 to answer my query.

I too can provide "A secure and unique identity" for £30 cheaper..it's my body and its valid for a lifetime.

waste of time and money another government gimmick

8000 applicants? You can bet your sweet ass that they are all Labour Party workers, activists or members who've had a three line whip, since no-one else in possession of a full set of marbles would have anything to do with this dumb, discredited, pointless, Stalinist scheme. Since Labour will be dumped from office next spring, it's disgraceful that they are moving so much as a millimetre forward with this idea. Thank God Almighty that their time in office is almost over. Of course, the MEN - the Friend Of The ID Card - will doubtless lament their passing. You fools.

The 8,000 should be offered counselling to rid them of their sad desire to conform to whatever this sinister government tells them to do.

If the government told the truth about ID cards, and told people about the bits they don't know about, nobody would have an ID Card. I hate to have to say it, but the last time the cards were here, the tories abolished them. I've lived all my life without them and after 49 years I'm without criminal record so I'm not going to carry one now.

Lord Brett said, "A lot of opposition to the cards has been based on fear from misconception and mischievousness."

Does this “misconception and mischievousness” include opposition to the ID Card scheme from the Government’s own Gateway Review, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service, the Information Commissioner, a former Attorney General, a former head of MI5 (Dame Stella Rimington), the International Commission of Jurists, the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Ltd, eminent law experts, many Labour MPs, Conservative and Lib-Dem MPs and most well-informed people? Even former Home Secretary, David Blunkett, who first suggested ID Cards, now opposes the system. The Information Commissioner warned of us sleepwalking into a police state.

The “misconception and mischievousness” comes from the Government, who are still too busy spinning to listen to the people. The Gateway Review that Gordon Brown commissioned from Sir James Crosby laid out ten broad principles for a "consumer-driven universal ID assurance system". Some of these principles are: "Any scheme should be restricted to enabling citizens to assert their identity; The government should not be involved in the system; The amount of data stored should be minimised; Full biometric images (other than photographs) should not be kept; Citizens should "own" their entry; It should not be possible, except for national security, for any data to be shared without informed consent; There should be no database of personal details; The cards should be free". The Gateway Review concluded that the Home Office ID Card / NIR scheme BREAKS ALL TEN PRINCIPLES. Gordon Brown’s response was to attempt to block access to the results of the review, in defiance of the Information Commissioner and the Information Tribunal.

The reason why New Labour is so lovestruck by ID Cards, NIR, detention without trial, and the excessive snooping, recording, storing and tracking, is the influence of the civil service. Two groups of civil servants in Whitehall, the executives of the Identity and Passport Service, and the Transformational Government team in the Cabinet Office, who work for the implementation and expansion of the "National Identity Service". They brief ministers on the scheme. Other projects for the database-state and attacks on our freedom and privacy are being developed by other civil servants.

The ID Card scheme was for decades a Home Office civil service plan. Peter Lilley MP remembers it being offered to the Conservative Government "as the remedy for all our ills, from crime to shortage of kidney donors". The Conservatives resisted, but Labour obviously liked the increased control of the people. It is no surprise that Alan Johnson and Lord Brett support ID Cards / NIR.

It is more spin to claim the cards will be voluntary. More and more conditions will become “designated”, like passports, bank accounts, job seeking, employment, benefits, insurance, so that you cannot get them without an ID Card. Life will become almost impossible without an ID Card; then when enough people have been forced to buy one, the law to make them compulsory will be slipped through.

He said: "They will have all the information they need on one card. This will assist young people who want to buy cigarettes, alcohol, and in a city like Manchester with a lively nightlife, they can access clubs and bars while also having a document that protects against fraud and allows travel through Europe."

So now it's cool to drink and smoke is it? After all the governments attempts to curb these two activities with dire warnings about cancer and liver failure and drink driving and cost to the NHS and etc etc. Are they that desperate to foist this foul scheme upon the country that they are willing to tear up all their past policies in a panic ridden attempt to find somebody, anybody, for any reason to carry one? Yep, sure seems that wy.

It must also be remembered that once enrolled you are on it for life. No second thoughts or cooling off period. As soon as you have signed up then that's it, you must advise the government of the slightest change in your circumstances for ever, not just now or next week but also fifty years hence or face being fined. Add to that the fairy tale of biometrics and you begin to wonder as to just what this is all about.

"They can be used in place of a passport throughout Europe." Doesn't that say everything about who is behind the attempts to push us into accepting something we have never needed or wanted other than when there was a fear of invasion during the Second World War. Until now there has never been an attempt to foist ID Cards on us in peacetime.

It just goes to show that all the claims about preventing terrorism, preventing organised crime, stopping ID theft and numerous other fatuous excused were nothing but lies. The real intent is force us all into line with other EU Countries in order to satisfy the demands of our Government’s political masters in Brussels.

“Your papers, please!”

"No government can bind its successors." ....

This Government has binded its successor with a huge debt !!

When are these so called people in power going to start listening to the public, most people have been saying this for years now. How much taxpayers money has been wasted trying to force this scheme down our throats. Just like with the congestion charge debate, they said most were for it and we know the result of that. As long as somebody's made some money on the back of this, that's all that seems to matter

Is it true the ID card hasn't/isn't recognised in Europe yet as an official ID card and is still being ratified?

Lord Brett said: "We have not set targets for what is a purely voluntary scheme, but our research shows a majority of people support ID cards''.

Best get a better research company in then if they are telling you that the majority wants these cards because I would say it is in fact only a tiny minority. Same with the congestion charge when the council said that the majority wanted it.

I am fed up with politicians just spouting out things like this. They think that all they have to do is speak and we will belive it. They take us for numpties.

Take Afghanistan and Brown saying we had delivered democracy and should be proud. Only 180 people voted! Mind you Brown has served two years as Prime Minister yet hasn't been elected by the public so what would he know about democracy?

I'm glad it flopped this is a stupid exercise that doesn't work and it is evident that many don't want it or like it.

how out of touch are labour with the people of this country?
everywhere you ask you find people opposed to the id cards idea. i havent actually found anyone who wants one.

its a bit like the con charge. even at an early stage the majority where against it. the tried to fool us with a few ploys but it still got thrown out. even though hundreds of thousands of pound where wasted in doing so.
this scheme is much the same. and the bill for it all just keeps on rising!

stupid thing is the whole idea of the id card was good. when it was first put to the public it looked good. you could combine your passport and driving licence into the one card and it would only cost you the same amount of money. but as its gone on this benefit hasnt even really been mentioned. the prices of them just keep on rising and all they keep harping on about our national security!

Audenshaw Bob, spot on.

In a poll here on the MEN, 75% were AGAINST ID cards. In a show of hands on BBC Question Time, only about half a dozen members of the entire audience said they would have one. Now 8000 people in the Manchester area have signed up, out of a population of what? 2.5 million? That is 0.0032%, or what statisticians would call "insignificant".

If the police are so infiltrated by unknowns "POLICE were fooled by a bogus interpreter" How do we know that the people that are running the "ID" department are not terrorists? we have allowed these people to infiltrate our system in the uk its time for a witchunt and a clean out of all our councils and depts so that we really know whos doing what.and jailing and deporting anybody who is working against our security.Including people like security guards.

Did i write 75% against? I meant 81% against! Not had my morning coffee yet...