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68% of those polled thought that the Government and public services already hold too much personal information and that the Government has not presented a strong enough case for the cards or register to justify their costs. Crucially whilst the Government now claims this is a voluntary scheme, as much as 60% of the sample said they would probably or definitely not volunteer for an ID card.

Liberty’s Campaigns’ Coordinator Sabina Frediani said:

“How many times can you re-design and re-launch this tired old policy? When will the Government realise that there is dwindling public support for a scheme that is as costly to our pockets as to our privacy and race relations. As a northerner myself, I have no idea of why the North West is being singled out for the dubious honour of being ID card guinea pigs. However I am delighted to say that this damning poll shows that northerners are as sceptical of this ID nonsense as the rest of Britain.”

Other results from the poll show public concern about privacy have risen dramatically in recent years – 77% of those polled believe that the UK has become a surveillance society.

Contact Mairi Clare Rodgers on 020 7378 3656 or 07973831128


NOTES TO EDITORS 1. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1,731 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 27th - 28th July 2009. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+). To view the findings in full, contact mairiclareR@liberty-human-rights.org.uk  2. Although the Home Secretary said that ‘holding an identity card should be a personal choice for British citizens’, when applying for a passport details will still be entered on the National Identity Register, the massive database that supports the scheme. In a public consultation document published in November last year the Government announced that British citizens would have the ‘choice’ of having a passport or ID card or both but that anyone applying for a passport would have their details entered automatically on the National Identity Register. Personal details recorded on the database would include fingerprints, facial images and up to fifty pieces of additional information (going well beyond what is held by the passport agency).

a. Read the public consultation document, Identity Cards Act Secondary Legislation (PDF)

b. Read Liberty’s response to the consultation. 3. Liberty’s principal concerns about the ID cards and the National ID Register include:
- They will fundamentally change the relationship between individual and state.
- They will have a detrimental impact on race relations and will adversely affect vulnerable groups in society.
- They will intrude on privacy as the amount of information held on the database and the uses made of that information will increase dramatically.
- The Government’s poor record on IT projects makes this a huge financial risk. 4. Liberty does not accept that ID cards will have any particular benefit:
- They will have no impact on illegal immigration as asylum seekers have been required to carry ID cards since 2000.

- Arguments that they will protect the UK from terrorist attack are unconvincing. The men responsible for the 9/11 and Madrid terrorist attacks had valid identification.

- They will not help fight crime but will be counterproductive, as they will deflect financial and policing resources away from crime prevention and detection.

- They will have minimal impact on benefit fraud, as this is usually about financial circumstances rather than identity.

- Most identity fraud takes place remotely, online, over the phone or using false ‘seed’ documents (driving licences, passports and so on). Identity cards will not address this. 5. Liberty, as part of its ‘Common Values’ campaign, yesterday released a powerful short film by graphic designer and filmmaker Will MacNeil about the threat to our personal privacy from the National Identity Register - watch it online.