Clegg sees ID card vote "a decade away"

By Tim Castle

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown can wait almost a decade before holding a vote on compulsory identity cards, according to calculations made by the opposition Liberal Democrat party.

That would effectively put the politically difficult decision on ice, with a parliamentary debate on the controversial issue shunted well beyond the next election.

LibDem leader Nick Clegg said delays to the scheme, revealed in leaks last week, had pushed back the day when the government would have to properly address the matter. ----------------- Join the debate on ID cards -------------

http://blogs.reuters.com/uknews/2008/02/07/time-for-a-vote-on-compulsory-id-cards/

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"The ID system cannot become fully operational till it is fully compulsory, and that requires additional primary legislation," Clegg, who opposes the cards, told Reuters in a telephone interview.

"Initially (the government) were going to do this in 2010 or 2011. By our latest calculation they probably don't need to do it till 2017 or so."

By then around 40 percent of the population could have already been issued ID cards alongside new passports, on current government plans.