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MP hits out at identity card ‘spin’
January 06, 2009
The scale of opposition to identity cards is likely to be higher than the Government claims, Wokingham’s MP has warned.
John Redwood tabled a question during Parliamentary Questions, which has revealed there were 3,073 items of correspondence about identity cards and the National Identity Database.
Of these, 1,142 were from people wanting an identity card.
Mr Redwood says the Government has classed all correspondence about getting an identity card, even people checking whether or not they need one, as “wanting” a card.
He said: “It is astonishing that, even after putting the best possible spin on the numbers and neglecting to fully provide the information requested, the only figure the Government can come up with is a third of people wishing to receive an identity card.
“Public opinion is likely to be much more strongly against identity cards than the minister’s figures suggest.
“People who are opposed to this measure are not likely to have written to the identity and passport service but to the minister or her officials directly at the Home Office.
“It is telling that the minister has neglected to tell us how many members of the public have written to her directly to express their opposition to this unnecessary and expensive gimmick.”
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