Brown backs off ID card scheme

The momentum whipped up by the government to arm every Briton with an identity card has been setback by an unlikely opponent – the Prime Minister-in-waiting, Gordon Brown.



Disclosures obtained by The Times reveal that the chancellor has refused to approve the overall budget for the scheme, thereby leaving the option open to scrap it if he becomes PM.



By saying the Home Office can only spend a limited amount to develop it, John Reid, the Home Secretary, will need to seek permission before the issuing of cards can begin.



The total price tag for the project, which will exceed the spending limit tabled by the chancellor, is an estimated £5.4billion, with 15% of the costs devoted to IT to run the scheme.



Under Section 37 of the Identity Cards Act, the government is required to spell out the programme's likely cost every six months, over its 10-year life span.



Mr Brown's decision to keep his options open was reportedly revealed on Wednesday in a written parliamentary answer to Mark Francois, a Tory backbencher.



David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, was quoted as saying it was a "stunning admission" that Mr Brown had not yet decided to back the scheme.



Yet one IT professional posting on the website of NO2ID, a lobbyist against ID cards, said the chancellor's decision would eventually undermine the Tories.



"Gordon Brown will wait for a strategic moment to scrap the ID card to take the wind out of the Conservative argument to do so," wrote Ian Parker, of Parker Joseph Consulting.



He claims that the building of ID registration pods or "interrogation centers" at offices owned by HM Revenue & Customs is a sign Mr Brown will replace the ID card with a 'tax card.'



Separately this week, the chancellor reappeared on video sharing website YouTube, this time in a party political broadcast, showing Mr Brown chatting with Tony Blair in the back of a cab.



As Mr Blair exits the cab first, Mr Brown is left to pick up the tab, seemingly though not in his normal prudent manner, as he hands the female cabbie a tenner for the fare of £5.