Telegraph
Quote:
Support for ID cards has slumped markedly since the Government reintroduced the plan INTO phpbb_Parliament, a new poll has found.
The Home Office has consistently claimed backing from about 80 per cent of the public. But a survey conducted by ICM on behalf of NO2ID, an umbrella organisation opposed to the measure, says those who think it is a good idea has fallen to 55 per cent.
The finding came in answer to a question that referred to the likely £93 cost of the combined passport and ID card due to be introduced from 2008. Greatest resistance was from people aged 18 to 24, among whom almost half thought they were a bad idea.
With the ID Bill certain to face a difficult ride in Parliament, the decline in popular support will alarm ministers. They have relied upon polls taken several years ago, before the cost implications of the ID cards became fully apparent, for their assertions that the measure is backed by the public. In 2003, David Blunkett, the former Home Secretary who obtained Cabinet backing for the scheme, said: ''Focus groups and polling evidence demonstrate that there is around 80 per cent support for identity cards.'' Similar claims were made by ministers last month when the ID Cards Bill - dropped because of the general election - was revived with new costings attached.
However, the poll on which most ministers rely was carried out by Mori in March 2004 - before the first ID card Bill was introduced INTO phpbb_Parliament. It found that a large majority of British citizens would be happy to carry ID cards and that the public has little or no concern about any potential negative impact on their civil and human rights.
A YouGov poll for The Daily Telegraph in 2003 also found overwhelming public support for the idea, although this began to cool at the prospect of having to pay £40 for them. Since then, the likely cost has risen to £93 for the combined ID card and passport.
It would seem that this, rather than civil liberties objections, is causing the drop in support.
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I wish that they would stop telling people that it will cost them £93. That is just the cash cost, and completely ignores the minimum £6 Billion tax burden to set the scheme up, which is a further £100 for every man, woman and child in Britain.
So at the very least a card will cost £193 overall.
14-06-2005, 03:23 AM
Public's support for ID cards wanes in face of £93 bill
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