Following his contribution to the Parliamentary debate on identity cards held last week Tobias Ellwood MP has been asked to join the Parliamentary Standing Committee which will scrutinise the Bill as it progresses to its next stage in Parliament.

Tobias Ellwood says:

"I am delighted to be appointed to the Identity Cards Bill Standing Committee and look forward to scrutinising this Bill in Committee over the next few weeks.
In my speech I made in the Chamber last week, I made clear my very serious doubts surrounding this Bill.

This proposal challenges the relationship between citizen and the state and there are concerns over the cost, technology used and impact this Bill would have if it became law.

The Government has yet to fully cost the scheme but present estimates suggests an ID Card will cost over £100 per person. The database behind the scheme has also not been fully costed, but with other Government projects running millions over budget the public has every right to be reticent about this proposal. (The Passport Agency database cost £242 million after it was originally supposed to cost £230 million, the NHS Database was budgeted at £6.2 million and now costs over £20 million and the CSA database spiraled from £200 million to £250 million.)

The technology required for a national ID card scheme is unproven. The Government's own report on trials shows only a 96% success rate on Iris scans, 81% for finger scans and 69% success rate on facial imagery. These figures raise severe reservations over the accuracy of the database."

As the scheme will be voluntary there is no requirement for anyone, including a terrorist or fraudster, to carry one. This money would be better spent on improving controls at our borders and investing in town centre CCTV systems to help tackle crime and fight terrorism.

I look forward to debating these and other points over the next three weeks.