PM re-commits to ID cards

Scheme will move ahead, with future parliamentary vote to make it compulsory, says Brown

Brown: ID scheme to move ahead

The Prime Minister is insisting the ID card plan will "move ahead" despite Tory protests following the scandals involving lost personal data by his government,

Speaking at his first Prime Minister's Questions session of 2008, Gordon Brown said the a parliamentary vote on making the card compulsory would take place after the voluntary system has been put in place, depending on the success of the initial scheme.

He brushed aside concerns about the missing data to insist the purpose would be to "protect people's identity" by using biometrics to prevent information being used without facial or fingerprint recognition. The cards will contain little more information than is held in a passport.

Tory leader David Cameron - who made it clear he supports ID cards for foreign visitors but is opposed to a compulsory scheme for UK citizens - said: "What we've learned over the last few months is that it is completely unsafe to trust the government with any more of our identity information."