Oh Dear: Labour admits ID card 'oversell'

[hattra]

In days gone by, that was called lying.

I thought it was "being economical with the truth!"

[Lucifer Box]

In its "enthusiasm" the Government had exaggerated the benefits to the state rather than for "the individual in providing a gold standard in proving your identity", he reportedly told a private seminar in Whitehall.

In days gone by, that was called lying.

[datestamp]

Tony McNulty, the Home Office minister responsible for the project, said ID cards would not solve the problems of terrorism or fraud.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/pol...icle303564.ece

But they could be fun in the pub where you can laugh at each other's photo on the card. And they could be useful on cold morning for scraping the frost off your car windscreen, or scraping off dead flies on summer evenings.

[Churchill]

Are you sure you're not Spod?

Why? What sort of kennel has he got?

[cojak]

Are you sure you're not Spod?

[Churchill]

I do hope they don't get cold feet, I'm hoping to pay next year's mortgage on this...

There's plenty of room in my kennel for you...

[cojak]

I do hope they don't get cold feet, I'm hoping to pay next year's mortgage on this...

[Lucifer Box]

the government had over-emphasised the benefits to the state rather than for "the individual in providing a gold standard in proving your identity"

Thinking about it, shouldn't that quote really have been...

the government had over-emphasised the benefits to the state rather than for "the identity fraudster in providing a gold standard and 'one-stop shop' in the process of acquiring some else's identity"

[Lucifer Box]

No change there then, eh?

So true. Still, might be a good time to buy some EDS shares and claim your part of the spending bonanza.

[SupremeSpod]

Ah well, it's all down to government "over-enthusiasm" but we're going to press on anyway and spend billions on a scheme with no (stated) clear objectives and no definable benefit, diverting money that could be better spent on front line policing.

No change there then, eh?

[Lucifer Box]

The government has admitted "overselling" the advantages of national identity cards. Tony McNulty, the Home Office minister responsible for the project, told a left-wing think tank ID cards would not be a panacea for terrorism or fraud.

But the government remained committed to the scheme - despite the high cost. Mr McNulty also said a battle between the Commons and the Lords about whether the cards become compulsory would end in deadlock.

The government's intended procedure for Parliament to approve the move to compulsion, by which both houses have to vote in favour, was "an algorithmic recipe for deadlock because it does not resolve the situation if one house says yes and the other says no", he said.

There are now so many almost daily occasions when we have to stand up and verify our identity. Mr McNulty is quoted as saying at the meeting: "Perhaps in the past the government, in its enthusiasm, oversold the advantages of identity cards. "We did suggest, or at least implied, that they might well be a panacea for identity fraud, for benefit fraud, terrorism, entitlement and access to public services."

In its "enthusiasm", the government had over-emphasised the benefits to the state rather than for "the individual in providing a gold standard in proving your identity", he told the private seminar in Whitehall.

Read on: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4744153.stm

Ah well, it's all down to government "over-enthusiasm" but we're going to press on anyway and spend billions on a scheme with no (stated) clear objectives and no definable benefit, diverting money that could be better spent on front line policing.