Humming
10-16-2005, 08:13 AM
£30 cost for 'stand alone' ID cards
People without passports will have to pay £30 for the controversial national ID card, Home Secretary Charles Clarke has announced.
The "stand alone" card will be valid for 10 years.
The Home Office's current best guess for the combined passport and ID card remains at £93, but opponents of the scheme have predicted far higher costs.
Proposed cards will carry a microchip bearing "biometric" details of the holder's fingerprints and face.
It will be compulsory to hold a card.
People renewing or applying for passports will have to pay the estimated £93, on top of existing passport prices, from 2008.
The compulsory aspect of the scheme will be phased in later for those who do not hold a passport, possibly from as early as 2010.
Mr Clarke said: "Being able to prove who we are is a fundamental requirement in modern societies, for example when we travel, apply for a job, open a bank account or apply for benefits.
"In future, the recording of biometrics such as fingerprints, iris patterns or facial image means that we will have a much stronger way of linking identity to the person.
"A national ID card will be a robust, secure way to establish that identities are real, not fabricated."
© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2005, All Rights Reserved.
People without passports will have to pay £30 for the controversial national ID card, Home Secretary Charles Clarke has announced.
The "stand alone" card will be valid for 10 years.
The Home Office's current best guess for the combined passport and ID card remains at £93, but opponents of the scheme have predicted far higher costs.
Proposed cards will carry a microchip bearing "biometric" details of the holder's fingerprints and face.
It will be compulsory to hold a card.
People renewing or applying for passports will have to pay the estimated £93, on top of existing passport prices, from 2008.
The compulsory aspect of the scheme will be phased in later for those who do not hold a passport, possibly from as early as 2010.
Mr Clarke said: "Being able to prove who we are is a fundamental requirement in modern societies, for example when we travel, apply for a job, open a bank account or apply for benefits.
"In future, the recording of biometrics such as fingerprints, iris patterns or facial image means that we will have a much stronger way of linking identity to the person.
"A national ID card will be a robust, secure way to establish that identities are real, not fabricated."
© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2005, All Rights Reserved.