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Memorandum submitted by Mr. Daniel Paul Fuller (ID 03)
I am concerned that the present Government is proposing to scrap the National Identity Card Scheme and denying holders who have already paid £30.00 for the card the right to use the card. Recently both my wife and I had recently received our new national identity cards which we chose to prefer to use when travelling around Europe.
I can appreciate and understand why the Government do not wish to continue to have every UK citizen to compulsory carry a National Identity card. But if the Government wish to completely scrap the service please can they at least honour the expiration dates on the 15,000 ID cards already in circulation. If the technology is already operational why scrap it – this would be very wasteful.
By scrapping the National Identity Card Scheme the Government will deny British citizens a choice; currently a ten year adult basic passport costs £77.50 when a ten year adult National ID card costs £30.00. The ID card is easy to carry in a wallet or purse when carrying a British passport is much more bulky. By offering the choice between having a passport or an identity card can only be a positive benefit for UK citizens to have a National Identity card especially when travelling abroad. And compliment the services offered by the Identity & Passport Service.
Unlike many of our European neighbours it is compulsory for an individual to always carry identification on themselves at all times. If an individual is stopped by the authorities and unable to present identification they can face imprisonment or made to pay a large fine. Probably because the size of a passport many people leave their passports in the hotel room. However if British citizens travelling abroad were able to hold an ID card the size of a credit card which can easily be carried on a person at all times, this would then satisfy European authorities when requested to present identification.
The ID card can also compliment identification request from banks and retail purchase agreements, which would prevent fraud.
June 2010
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