MPs voice concerns after passing ID cards bill

MPs have passed the government's identity cards bill through the House of Commons by 224 votes to 64.

The plan proposes the creation of a central register of all UK adults, holding basic information and up to three biometrics, such as iris scans or facial images.

Procurement for the project is expected to start in the summer, once the bill has been passed by the Lords. Cards will be issued to citizens from 2008.

But MPs at last week's debate expressed concerns that the plan - with what Conservative MP Humfrey Malins described as 'huge constitutional and civil liberties implications' - was being rushed through.

The third and final Commons reading was squeezed into the shortest debate slot of the week, after only two weeks in committee, said critics from all three main parties. Despite its brevity, the debate covered a range of issues, including:

* the role of the proposed Identity Commissioner

* the cost of the plan

* MPs' scepticism of the government's stated aim of reducing terrorism

* the lack of clarity over what information and biometrics will be held, and who will be able to access the database

* concern over how the register will be kept up to date.

Liberal Democrat IT spokesman Richard Allan described the plan as 'a pig in a poke'.

'That is the correct metaphor to describe what we are being asked to buy: something about which we do not have sufficient detail,' he said.

Edward Leigh, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, said: 'The initial estimate was £1.3bn, then £3.1bn and now £5bn. When is it going to stop?

'The card will not curb terrorism or stop illegal immigrants. What it will do is cost us a lot of money and fundamentally attack our civil liberties.'