NO2ID

If the "government" expect us to pay for something we don't want, then we can hardly be suprised.

However, I think that some of the proposed £85 fee be put aside to provide insurance for those who suffer identity theft, etc as a result of these cards.

I know the "government" claim that it will be impossible to break the encryption and impossible to clone these cards, but who in their right mind would actually believe that. We've all seen so many cases like this recently, where it is announced that technology X is perfectly secure, only to see numerous hacks and errors happening almost immediately.

Let's face it, if the "government" says it is safe, do you trust them ?

I have a feeling that 'New' Labour will simply drop the fee as a 'concession' when people raise objections and instead they will just make people pay via an identity tax instead. Don't put too much emphasis on the fee - there are other, far more objectionable reasons to oppose 'ID cards'/National Identity Register.

The £85 or £100 or whatever fee is an integral part of the "voluntary" phase of the scheme. I doubt if there will be any "concessions" until the "compulsory" phase.

Do not neglect the public opposition to payying these fees - the same Government funded opinion polls and focus groups that they claim majority support for a vague ID scheme (with no details specified) also show huge resistance to paying even a fraction of the proposed fee.

Don't be confused by the "cost" of a Biometric Passport either - for the forseeabkle future it will be incompatible with the ID card - the plans for a combined passport with Id Card on the sane document seem to have been quietly dropped.