ID Cards on Trial: Blair warned by rebel MPs

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.

As more details on the cost of the scheme emerge, alongside increasing doubts about the reliability of the proposed biometric technology, support for ID cards has dropped among MPs and the general public.

Some 20 rebel Labour MPs in the left-wing Campaign Group - led by MP John McDonnell who is backing silicon.com's ID cards campaign - have signed an amendment to the bill claiming ID cards will not tackle terrorism or illegal working and that there are not enough safeguards for the personal information that will be stored in the national identity database.

That still leaves rebels needing another 14 Labour MPs to vote against the party whip and join Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs, if Prime Minister Tony Blair's majority of 68 is to be overturned and the ID cards bill defeated.

But the rebels claim an unconvincing performance by Home Secretary Charles Clarke when fielding questions from Labour MPs at a private meeting on ID cards earlier this month has resulted in more MPs turning against the bill.

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 the London School of Economics (LSE) finally releases its full report on Monday claiming the project will cost up to £18bn - triple current government estimates. An ICM poll earlier this month has already revealed a massive drop in public support for ID cards.

Clarke dismissed LSE academics as "simply mad" last week but the report is expected to detail how the government has failed to factor into its estimates the costs that will be borne by local authorities and councils to make their systems work with the ID cards.

Conservative Shadow Home Secretary David Davis told silicon.com on the launch of our ID cards campaign that this extra cost will result in higher council taxes and said it could end up becoming "Labour's poll tax".

All this comes on the back of Metropolitan police chief Sir Ian Blair questioning whether the technology proposed for ID cards will work, and a national petition by the No2ID opposition group that aims to collect 10,000 pledges not to register for ID cards or obstruct the registration process if the bill is passed.