Press comment on the Identity Project Report
Press reaction to the The Identity Project: an assessment of the UK Identity Cards Bill and its implications (PDF) published on 27 June 2005.
27 June
BBC News Online
Belfast Telegraph
- Labour braced for ID cards battle
Channel 4.com
Daily Mail
- ID turmoil over plan to sell our personal details (no direct link)
Daily Telegraph
Eastern Daily Express
- Blair under more fire over ID cards
Financial Times
Guardian
IC Birmingham.co.uk
ID card-related TV/ radio interviews
- Patrick Dunleavy spoke on the Today Programme, Radio 5 Live News and BBC Breakfast TV
Independent
- Q&A: Why does Mr Blair want me to have a card, and what will it cost? (no direct link)
- Big Brother is coming (no direct link)
- Ministers plan to sell your ID card details to raise cash (no direct link)
- Editorial- The case is unproven but ID cards are worth a try (no direct link)
Islamic Republic News Agency
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Unions add to Blair's woes on ID cards (25 June): several of Britain's biggest trade unions appear set to jeopardise Prime Minister Tony Blair's first test of authority following last month's general election by opposing his plans to introduce controversial identity cards.
ITV.com
- Government plans to sell ID Card details (26 June) (no direct link)
Mail on Sunday
- Shock for Blair as 9 out of 10 say No to £100 identity card: only one in ten Britons support Blair’s ID card scheme. A study by the London School of Economics to be published tomorrow claims that the real cost of ID cards would be £300 each and that the technology used to store information is ‘experimental’ and ‘unstable’. (No link available. Also reported in Sunday Express - no link available.)
Manchester Evening News
- Fury over ‘£18bn ID cards’
Metro
- ID card scheme ‘left in tatters’ (no direct link)
Observer
Press Association
- Blair to face grilling on ID cards and Africa (no direct link)
Scotland on Sunday
Scotsman
Silicon.com
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ID Cards on Trial: Blair warned by rebel MPs (24 June): rebel Labour MPs have warned the government they will unite to vote the ID card bill down at the second reading on 28 June unless concessions are made. In addition to the political pressure, the government is preparing itself for another public backlash to the ID card scheme ahead of the vote when LSE finally releases its full report on Monday claiming the project will cost up to £18bn - triple current government estimates.
Sunday Telegraph
Sunday Times
- Costs may force ID cards to be cheap ‘chip and pin’ (26 June) (no direct link)
The Herald
- ID Cards will be Blair’s poll tax (no direct link)
The Peninsula
The Publican
Times
Yorkshire Post
- Minister ready for fight over identity card plans: critics of the ID card scheme have warned that the plan could turn into Labour’s poll tax. In March, a draft of an LSE study estimated that the project could cost between £12bn and £18bn over the next 10 years. On these figures, some commentators estimated that each card would cost £300.
28 June
BBC News Online
BBC Radio 4 Today programme
- Charles Clarke attacks the LSE ID card report, for 'fabricating figures and false assumptions'.
Daily Express
- Blair could be forced to drop £300 ID cards: Tony Blair admitted that he would be forced to dump the ID card scheme if costs began to spiral out of control after a report by the London School of Economics revealed that the total cost of the scheme could rise to more than £19billion.
Daily Mail
- Dog’s dinner: senior academics have warned that the ID card scheme could cost taxpayers more than £19bn, won’t work and could even be illegal. According to the Daily Mail, ‘the ferocity of the attack by the experts at the London School of Economics was the final nail in the coffin for the project’.
Daily Mirror
- ‘An unnecessary and disproportionate intrusion of privacy’: ID cards could turn Britain into a ‘surveillance society’ according to the Government’s data protection watchdog. Academics at the London School of Economics estimate that the hi-tech scheme could cost a minimum of £10.6 billion and could spiral to £19.2billion.
Evening Standard
- Clarke fights to halt ID card revolt over soaring costs: a report to be published today by the London School of Economics raises doubts over the financial feasibility of the ID card scheme, warning that its costs could spiral up to £300 per person.
- Watchdog warns of big brother-style system if plans are implemented: Richard Thomas, government’s information commissioner, has warned that the costs of the ID card scheme could spiral and that the scheme could turn into an ‘unnecessary and intrusive’ Big-Brother style plan. Meanwhile the London School of Economics has published a report according to which the cost of ID cards would vastly exceed the government’s £5.8bn estimate
- Weblog: Say NO to ID is a website run by Simon Davies, visiting fellow at the LSE, and contains arguments backed up by academics on why to appose the ID card scheme plan.
Financial Times
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Millions to undergo passport interviews: more than four million people a year applying for a new passport will have to attend personal interviews with the UK passport service from the end of 2008 under government plans linked to the introduction of the identity card scheme.
Guardian
Independent
- Blair defends ID cards after plan is dismissed as ‘dog’s dinner’ (no direct link)
Metro London
- ID card scheme ‘left in tatters’: a report by the London School of Economics has estimated the real costs of the ID card scheme as £18m. The study follows ministers’ admissions at the weekend that organisations such as banks would be given access to personal information.
- ID cards are on their way, Blair tells critics: Tony Blair brushed aside two reports criticising his ID card scheme, one by the government’s watchdog and another by the London School of Economics, which has been attacked by civil rights groups and which says the scheme would cost up to £19.2bn and called it a ‘one-stop shop for fraudsters’.
- Experts brands Blair ID card plans ‘a dog’s dinner’: academics from the London School of Economics warned that the ID card scheme could become a ‘one-stop shop for fraudsters’ and could cost up to £19.2bn to introduce. Professor Ian Angell of the LSE branded it ‘a dog’s dinner’.
Telegraph
The Sun
- Blair pledges £100 ID limit: Tony Blair is ready to put a £100 cap on the cost of ID cards in a bid to win support for his controversial plan. He pledged to keep costs reasonable and possibly nip into public funds if necessary. A study by 14 professor of the London School of Economics described the scheme as a ‘dog’s dinner’
- ID cards mean we are ALL in Big Bruv: article supporting the claims that introduction of the ID card scheme would turn Britain into a Big Brother state, with mention of the study by the London School of Economics.
Times
29 June
BBC News Online
Bloomberg
Channel 4 News
Daily Mail
- Smeared - Clarke ties to bully LSE academics back into line over the cost of ID cards: Charles Clarke was accused yesterday of running a ‘smear’ campaign against the London School of Economics academics which warned that the project might cost up to £19.2bn. Mr Clarke labelled the report ‘technically incompetent’ and a ‘fabrication’.
- Charles Clarke’s identity crisis: does Charles Clarke think we are all children? His blustering attempt at justifying ID cards on the Today programme yesterday was an insult to the intelligence and was an example of New Labour's patronising arrogance at its worst. And his brutish attack on academics at the London School of Economics for daring to challenge his costings was counter-productive as most people in this country have far more trust in the LSE than in any politician. (Also reported in Daily Mirror, Financial Times, The Guardian)
Daily Telegraph
- Clarke cap on cost of ID cards fails to appease MPs
- Rebels fail to halt ID Cards Bill after Clarke caps cost: before the debate, Mr Clarke dismissed a report from the London School of Economics, which suggested the cost of the system could be pounds 20 billion, or pounds 300 per card - up to three times Government estimates - as ‘a technically incompetent piece of work’.
Evening Standard
- Identity crisis for Labour’s loyalists: the most interesting people in tonight’s ID card debate will be the government loyalists supporting the scheme. The costs of the project seem to be rising: last week they were £93 each, by the weekend they were 110 and a report by the London School of Economics estimates that a card could cost up to £230.
- Pressure mounts after ID revolt
Financial Times
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Questions of identity: a report by the London School of Economics estimated that the total costs of the ID scheme could hit £19.2bn. The report also highlighted the risks of an untested scheme using biometric technology that has so far been unreliable and never been used on this scale before. The LSE also says that the security measures required to defend such system from attack or fraud have been underestimated.
- Victory in Commons but further battles loom: Charles Clarke’s decision to cap the costs of identity cards deprived Labour rebels of their first victory in Parliament, but the Bill is certain to face a rough ride when it reaches the House of Lords. The capping fails to address the underlying concerns about who foots the Bill. The Home Office insists that the cost of £93 is a robust estimate, however a study by the London School of Economics suggests it could cost up to £300 per card.
- Technology will have to be updated, says passport agency chief: the London School of Economics identified the issue of the cards renewal as one of the 10 uncertainties surrounding the project, along with claims that its actual costs will vastly exceed government’s estimates.
Guardian
ITV News.com
- Government wins ID card vote
Metro London
- ID cards Bill to get green light: Anna Black, Labour’s National Executive Committee, defied the ID card scheme as having ‘the disaster potential of the Dome combined with the poll tax’. Home Secretary Charles Clarke claims the scheme would combat crime and make it easier for people to prove their identity. The government’s estimate of £93 per card contrasts sharply with the £170-£300 estimate by LSE.
30 June
BBC News Online
Bloomberg
Daily Mail
Guardian
Leeds Today
The Journal
- ID cards: what if we all just say no?
The Register
Washington Technology
Yorkshire Post Today
2 July
BBC News Online
Daily Mail
- ID card report authors 'bullied'
Edinburgh Evening News/ Scotsman
Politics.co.uk
Times Online
3 July
Independent on Sunday
- Rich pickings and high risks are on the cards
Sunday Express
- Stop conning the public over identity cards
Sunday Sport
- £93 or £300, who do you believe?
Sunday Times
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‘Bullying’ by Whitehall on ID card report: Howard Davies, director of the London School of Economics, has accused the Home Office of using ‘bullying and intimidation’ in its attempt to suppress a study about identity cards.
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Liars and bullies: comments from Howard Davies, Director of LSE, in which he describes the Home Office’s pressure to withdraw its study on ID cards as ‘bullying and intimidating behaviour’.
Sunday Telegraph
The Business
- BT ready to bid against: BT is preparing to compete with US company Electronic Data System for the contract to operate the UK’s proposed ID card scheme. LSE believes that the real costs of this scheme will be between £10 and £19bn.
4 July
Daily Mail
- ID card support 'dwindling'
- Not up to the job: Tony Blair has criticised Charles Clarke’s relaxed approach towards the growing phenomenon of street yobbism. The only time Charles Clarke deigned to throw his weight around was to disgracefully slander the London School of Economics for daring to give realistic figures on the costs of the ID card scheme.
Daily Telegraph
eGov.com
Evening Standard
- In the hot seat: interview with Simon Davies, one of the academics of the London School of Economics behind the ID card report, who was attacked by Home Secretary Charles Clarke last week.
The Herald
- Here we go again, risking the jail and just for being a bit thick: review of the week, including LSE research into ID cards.
Independent
- After 150 years, the Civil Service needs reform: the Home Office has made intimidating phone calls to LSE to force them to postpone the publication of a report on the identity cards scheme until after the House of Commons debate. This shows that the Home Office ministers have corrupted Home Office civil servants.
IT Week
ITV.com
- Polls show popularity dip of ID cards
politics.co.uk
5 July
Evening Standard
- Minister hits back at critics of ID cards: the government today tried to get the identity card scheme back on track with a fresh attack on its critics. Home Office minister Tony McNulty branded a damning report by Simon Davies and 14 professors from LSE as ‘preposterous’. He dismissed the academics' proposals for a simpler identity card scheme as ‘a complete and utter nonsense’. But the ferocity of his attack threatened to backfire - suggesting ministers are becoming increasingly rattled by the strength of public opposition.
Guardian
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Simon Davies: In a spin: the home secretary called his research on ID cards 'partisan', but, Simon Davies tells John Crace, the attack on him has given academic freedom a real boost.
Politics.co.uk
Times Online
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Simple, secure, cheap - our new ID card: opposition to the proposed ID card scheme is increasing from trade unions, civil liberties group and local authorities. Article by Simon Davies, LSE, in which he proposes that the recent ‘mess’ by the government on ID cards can be put right using a practical model that will win over public support.
Today programme
- Interview with Simon Davies, on the Today Programme on ID cards (7.10am) and Tony McNulty replying (8am)
6 July
Guardian
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Government accused of stacking ID cards committee: the government was accused of packing the committee that will analyse the controversial ID card scheme with Labour loyalists who will not look for a cheaper compromise that does not pose a risk to civil liberties. Simon Davies, the privacy campaigner who contributed to the LSE report, has urged MPs to work on a more modest solution based on the Swedish experience.
7 July
Daily Telegraph
- Letters to the Editor – We’re together on ID: Professor Ian Angell, Gus Hosein, Frank Land, Edgar Whitley and 18 other academics wrote to The Daily Telegraph to contest the government’s claims whereby the ID report was inspired and controlled by visiting academic Simon Davies and to reiterate that all the authors of the study stand united against the government’s denigration attempts.
8 July
PublicTechnology.net
- ID Cards: BCS underscores potential risks of implementation: the British Computer Society has highlighted its perceived risks within the government’s proposed ID Card scheme in its submission to the LSE report: The Identity Project: an assessment of the UK Identity Cards Bill and its implications.
Daily Mail
9 July
Independent
- Brown plans study of cost of identity cards, p18: the Treasury is launching its own study into the costs of identity cards and Gordon Brown may abandon the scheme if he becomes Prime Minister. Doubts are growing inside the government about the costs and practicalities of the proposed scheme and Treasury officials will now take a closer look at the 800 page LSE report.
10 July
Mail on Sunday
- Maybe one day I’ll track down my captors too: public support for the ID card scheme now stand at an all-time low: only 45% of the British public backs the scheme as opposed to 78% in 2003. One of the reasons behind the dwindling support is the staggering costs. The government puts the costs at £6 billion, while the LSE states higher.
Sunday Express
- No excuse for ID cards: Simon Davies, a security expert and author of the recent LSE report on ID cards, believes that the Government already has enough powers to deal with the threat of terrorism – powers that go well beyond those of most western democracies – and questions the role of ID cards.
13 July
Guardian
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Unlawful, unworkable, unnecessary: article by Simon Davies, director of Privacy International and a visiting fellow in the Information Systems Group at LSE. He describes the ID card scheme as ‘Clarke’s desperate political stunt to give a pretence of leadership in Europe’ and believes that collecting data would not help prevent terrorist attacks.
14 July
Accountancy Age
- Opinion: Identity crisis: reference to the LSE ID card report.
Guardian
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Inside IT – In the name of the law: the London bombings have intensified the debate over the government’s plan to introduce compulsory ID cards. A recent report published by LSE claims that identity cards could create new opportunities for identity fraud and suggests a decentralised alternative. The report also highlights costs that greatly exceed the government’s estimates.
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Letters – Net balance: Labour MP Nick Palmer from Broxtowe writes to criticise Simon Davies’ disapproval of the retention of email records of suspect individuals.
15 July
DisInformation.com
- ID Cards ‘Will Help Fraudsters': James Backhouse, a director of LSE’s Information Systems Integrity Group, said that identity cards would instead become the new master key for identity fraudsters, who would be able to acquire the cards using stolen documents.
18 July
The Age, Australia
19 July
The Australia, Australia
- Medicare 'smart card' an ID blueprint: the Howard government's new Medicare card, to be distributed to 11million Australians next year, could become the blueprint for a new national identity card. Reference to LSE study on ID cards.
Luton Today
20 July
Times
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Iraq ‘link’ to terror attacks: letter from Brian Dean of Chester criticising the government for dismissing everything from the London School of Economics report on ID cards to the Chatham House report linking the London bombings to the Iraq war.
22 July
The Inquirer
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Officially irrelevant, but we want the ID card anyway: Gus Hosein, visiting fellow at LSE, comments on the Government committee on ID cards, saying ‘The government stacked the committee with very loyal Blairites, and they're saying no to everything, so the bill's not going to change’.
23 July
The Age, Australia
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On the cards: ID cards are increasingly being embraced as a weapon against terrorism. But will they work? According to Patrick Dunleavy, the UK scheme that seeks to recognise a person's fingerprint, face and iris, while holding much other data, all stored on a huge central database has never been undertaken anywhere in the world. The LSE study condemns the plan as unsafe and finds scant evidence that such a card will prevent terrorism.
24 July
Observer
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West must face up to the truth: Brian Dean writes about Tony Blair’s dismissal of the LSE ID card report, and asks if rational behaviour simply to dismiss everything.
25 July
Green Left Weekly, Australia
26 July
Egov Monitor
PublicTechnology.net
- ID Cards: Home Office makes strong rebuttal of LSE report
27 July
Bloomberg
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Australia considers identity card to combat terrorism: Australian prime minister John Howard is considering making citizens carry an identity card to avert terrorist attacks, 20 years after campaigning against such a move on grounds it was an invasion of privacy. Reference made to the British identity card plans with mention of the LSE study into the cost of such plan.
2 August
The Australian IT, Australia
Business Week
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Big Brother Britain? the Blair administration's proposal for biometric ID cards looked unlikely to happen, until the July 7 attacks. But critics still worry about their intrusiveness. Reference to the LSE ID card report. Simon Davies, LSE, quoted.
Daily Telegraph
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We need increased border checks, not identity cards: a reader, Geraint Bevan from Glasgow, opposes the identity card scheme, arguing the £18bn that the LSE estimates it could cost would be better spent improving the UK’s health and education systems and putting more police on the streets.
4 August
Belfast Telegraph
e-Gov Monitor
Financial Times
Independent
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Benefits of national identity cards were oversold, admits minister: the government has admitted that it oversold the benefits of identity cards in its ‘enthusiasm’ for the scheme. Reference to how the Home Office directly accused the LSE ID card report that raised concerns about the biometric technology used to take iris scans, fingerprints and facial recognition scans and the costs of implementing an ID card programme.
5 August
Daily Mail
Financial Times
Guardian
Silicon.com
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Home Office ID figures branded "misleading": the Home Office's latest attempts to justify its calculations of the cost and benefits of the national ID card scheme have been branded misleading and inaccurate by the London School of Economics (LSE).
6 August
Cambridge Evening News
7 August
The Business
- LSE fights back in battle over ID cards: the London School Of Economics (LSE), whose scathing report on identity cards was rejected by the government, said regular use of ID cards will mean they will wear out much quicker than is being anticipated. LSE also said the government has drastically underestimated the cost of the technology required to identify and check ID cards. LSE this weekend launched a devastating counter-attack on the UK government’s proposed national ID card scheme.
Observer
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Faith groups' fears add to ID card trouble: growing concerns over the government's plans to introduce compulsory ID cards were given fresh impetus yesterday after it emerged that Britain's major religions oppose the scheme. Reference to the LSE ID card report that estimates the cost of the scheme.
The Publican, UK
- What the Sunday papers said
Scotland on Sunday
8 August
Computer Weekly
eGov Monitor
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ID cards: Home Office pursued over LSE rebuttal: Home Office attempts to quash academics' criticism of the planned national identity system appear to have backfired badly, prompting a fresh round of questions about the scheme's chances of success. The London School of Economics says the department's recent rebuttal of their critique of the Government's identity cards scheme was misleading and inaccurate, containing ‘substantial errors and misrepresentation of fact’. Also mentioned in The Register.
ZDNet.uk
9 August
Computing
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LSE rejects Home Office rebuttal: the London School of Economics says the Home Office’s rebuttal of its ID cards report is full of ‘material errors and misrepresentation of fact’. In its own point by point analysis, LSE claims that the government's response to its criticisms of the scheme has ignored large tracts of its work, choosing to focus only on narrow areas. Also mentioned in VNUNet.com (Netherlands) and IT Weekly (Netherlands).
10 August
Christian Science Monitor
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New plans are in store for an old number: researchers at the prestigious London School of Economics and Political Science said that both identity theft and national security might be better addressed by other means than through national identity cards, such as by giving individuals more control over who sees their personal information or by strengthening border patrols and supplying more funds for police investigations.
11 August
Guardian
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A litany of deception and secrecy: from the Hutton inquiry to ID cards the government has been arrogant and unswerving in its ambition to remain closed. Article by Simon Davies, LSE.
21 August
Sunday Times
26 August
SecureIDNews
- National ID cards: The current state in the UK, US, and Australia: reference to LSE study on ID cards.
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