Warning to Tories that abolishing ID cards will cost £40m

Published on 23/03/2009 18:22

SCRAPPING plans for a national identity card scheme would cost £40 million, Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, said yesterday.

In an attack on the Conservatives, who have pledged to abolish the scheme, Ms Smith said doing so would "not free up a large fund of money to spend on other priorities".

But the Tories accused the government of deliberately increasing the costs to make it hard for them to abolish the scheme.

During Commons question time, Ms Smith said the government was "on track" to introduce ID cards this autumn.

She told MPs two contracts would be awarded next month,

adding: "As is normal, these contracts have been written to protect the public purse.

"Cancellation of the ID cards contract and partial termination of the application and database contracts would cost in the region of 40 million.

"Scrapping ID cards and the identity database will not free up a large fund of money to spend on other priorities."

Outside the Commons, Chris Grayling, the shadow home secretary, accused Ms Smith of "poison pill" tactics to increase costs for a future Conservative administration.

He said: "The government is deliberately making it as expensive as possible for a future government to scrap ID cards."