Memorandum submitted by Mr. David Williams (ID 12)

1) I am a British Citizen who travels a lot and has an Identity Card; I find it very useful and would urge you to continue to issue optional identity cards using the information wholly contained in the current electronic passports.

2) The uses that I have made of the card have included, travel in Europe, identification in offices abroad and photo ID to back up a credit card.

3) When abroad, it is important to be able to carry ID with you, in some Countries this is a legal requirement, however it is safer to keep the passport in a hotel safe.

4) In some offices abroad (especially Asia and Latin America), security insist in retaining a Photo ID for the duration of the visit, it is a lot safer leaving an ID card than a passport.

5) When my passport has to be sent for a Visa (can take 3 weeks) or a renewal, it is very useful to have a European travel document.

6) On a separate note, I would prefer that my Children are able to use such a card to prove their age at various times.

7) The information that needs to be on the card is Photo, Signature and basic details; these are all stored on a computer system as part of recent passports. It should not be very expensive (say £5) to print out an ID card at the same time as a passport or at a later date using the same information (and expiry date).

8) I totally support the removal of the ID Database and storage of fingerprints, however a really useful card has been created & I would urge you to retain the good bits whilst stopping the bad bits.

July 2010

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