Liberal Democrats celebrate climbdown on compulsory ID cards

10.34.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 1st Jul 2009

Following the news that the government is to abandon plans to make it compulsory for British citizens to carry ID cards, Liberal Democrat Prospective MP for Oldham East & Saddleworth said:

"This is a good start. Security experts have said that the ID card scheme was going to be an expensive failure which would cost billions and have no impact on reducing crime or terrorism. Government IT schemes frequently go way over budget and fail to deliver the results needed.

"The government now needs to recognise that this scheme is dead in the water - why would ordinary working folk want to pay £93 for something that isn't compulsory? I predict that so few will be issued that they could become collectors items in the future!

"They should abandon the scheme before they throw any more of our money down the drain."