End of the road for ID cards

National database to be destroyed

The deeply unpopular ID cards scheme officially breathed its last at the weekend and the database designed to hold citizens' details - the National Identity Register - is due to be deleted this week.

A brief statement on the Home Office web site announced the passing of the scheme.

"It is about the people having trust in the government to know when it is necessary and appropriate for the state to hold and use personal data, and it is about the government placing their trust in the common sense and responsible attitude of the people," said immigration minister Damian Green.

Scrapping the scheme will save £80m over the next four years during which the scheme was to be introduced, Green told the Commons. But deleting the database will cost £400,000.

The Identity and Passport Service has written to card holders, international border agencies and travel operators to inform them that the cards can no longer be used to prove identity.

The Labour government launched the scheme with the Identity Cards Bill in 2006 as part of the UK's role in the US "global war on terror(ism)". But the concept was criticised for its expense, erosion of civil liberties and potential for privacy breaches, and came under fire from Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner at the time.

A pilot scheme was rolled out to air-side workers at Manchester airport, but moves to dismantle the scheme began soon after the coalition came to power.