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ID card costs soar
20/ 8/2007
A year and a half after steamrollering the Identity Cards Act
through Parliament, and having already spent over £72 million of
taxpayers' money*, the government has announced the beginning of
its procurement process for the National Identity Scheme.
PA Consulting, the original 'development partner' for the ID
programme, estimated in 2005 that the "development and procurement
phases" of the project would cost £18.74 million. The (so far)
quadrupling of this cost the government had first suggested.
This makes the LSE's £20 billion estimate for setting up the scheme
look rather more accurate than the government's unsubstantiated
figures. The LSE estimate the government first sought to suppress
and then belittle. Without doubt £20 billions instead spent on
extra police officers on the street would make a real difference to
peoples lives and a sense of security, however would do little to
boost profits of Government IT contractors.
We urge readers write to their MP's demanding the money be spent on
read security measures not a back door surveillance schemer to
snoop and track the vast majority of honest residents.
We have already seen this government abuse anti -terrorism laws to
harass peaceful climate protestors, just a sign of what we can
expect the ID scheme to be really used for.
Cllr Steve Radford
President of The Liberal Party
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