Tory peers cave in on Identity Cards Bill
After several rounds of “ping pong”, as the Identity Cards Bill was sent back and forth between the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the British government has finally got its way after Tory peers in the Lords accepted a “compromise” allowing people to opt out of getting a card (until 2010) when they renew or apply for their passports (from 2008 onwards).
However, people applying for or renewing passports will still have to register on the National Identity Register and thus the only difference made is in the timing over when they are actually issued with a card. This “compromise” is thus worthless, as it leaves the governments planned database, which will record people’s activities in considerable detail, unscathed.
Yet again the Tory party has shown itself to be unreliable at defending civil liberties in Britain.