ID cards roll out to focus on young drinkers
1 July, 2009
Home Secretary hopes cards will help in "fight against underage drinking"
The government is aiming to make it easier for pubs and off-licences to identify an underage customer by urging young people to apply for an ID card.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson has attracted criticism after he yesterday ruled out making ID cards compulsory for British citizens.
But he said the government would focus on young people and the “fight against underage drinking”, as part of plans to roll out voluntary ID cards.
Greater Manchester residents will be able to apply for an ID card by the end of this year, while other areas in the North West will be able to get a card from early 2010.
The cards will cost £30 each.
Johnson said: “There will be significant benefits to individuals from holding an identity card, which will become the most convenient, secure and affordable way of asserting identity in everyday life.
“The benefits are not just for individuals but also for communities where a reliable proof of age will be invaluable in the fight against underage drinking and young people trying to buy knives.”
The rest of the UK will have the option of applying for a card from 2011/12, the government said.
Meanwhile plans to ensure all foreign nationals have an ID card within three years remain.
Readers' comments
Passport and/or driving licence cover all ID situations admirably, so leave it alone!
Are these the same ID cards that no one wants, that Parliament voted against and no other party supports. Are these the same cards that government has singularily failed to prove a need for instead inventing reasons for their introduction? I said when they were first muted and people on here said they would be a great way of saving licensees from persecution for serving under aged not to be fooled or conned by that reason as it would be a false hope. Does no one see that this government gets it's way by creaping legislation regardless of what the people say or want? They have already tagged the next generation in our schools ready for compulsory registration and identification of every person in this realm(for we are still a realm not a republic) Never mind the next generation blaming us for climate change they will thank us less for allowing their freedoms to be given over to total state control. Never mind nanny state it will be jailer state if anyone purchses one of these cards because make no bones about it very soon they will be compulsory under threat of imprsonment. Ken Nason
So they have set the wheels fully in motion. They tell us they will not make it compulsary, but how long until they start introducing legislation to make it necessary to go about your daily life. The passport or driving license does fine, leave it at that.
"They will cost £30 each". The concern is not so much the initial cost, but the cost of a replacement. Like losing a passport or driving licence on a Saturday night out a replacement ID card will cost a fortune. The Home Office don't tell you that of course! PASS is effective and available at low cost both on initial issue and on replacement.
Beware the creeping paralysis of stealth ID cards.