JAMES KIRKUP
The Scotsman
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=546112005
THE Conservatives will oppose the government’s identity cards bill, senior Tories said yesterday.
Officially, the party is still debating its response, but well-placed Conservatives yesterday told The Scotsman that the decision had been made to oppose the legislation when it comes to the Commons.
The Tory move has been driven by David Davis, the shadow home secretary, despite resistance from Michael Howard, the party leader. It means Labour, with its reduced Commons majority, will face a tough fight trying to pass the ID cards bill.
"It’s hard to see how Labour can get it through now," one shadow cabinet member said yesterday.
A spokesman for Conservative Central Office last night said it was "not possible" to say how the party’s MPs would vote until the ID cards bill had been published.
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