ID card cost exceeds £5billion

7.17.46pm UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 10th May 2007

The cost of the ID card scheme will exceed 5 billion pounds.

The official cost of the Government's controversial ID card scheme has risen to 5.31 billion pounds, according to a Home Office report issued today. This is 400 million pounds higher than the previous estimate. The Liberal Democrats have accused the government of delaying the announcement to bury the bad news on the day of Tony Blair announcing his resignation.

"The costs are now spiralling out of control" said Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary. "On the grounds of expense alone, the government should do us all a favour and abandon this great white elephant before it is too late."

The Home Office broke the law by releasing the updated costings a month later than they should have, according to the Liberal Democrats. Under the terms of the Identity Card Act the Home Office must report the costs of the scheme every six months. The latest update was due on 9 April.

"This bad news has been illegally postponed, and is only now published a full month beyond the statutory deadline. That shows the depths of cynicism and media manipulation to which ministers are now resorting to ram this increasingly unpopular scheme through.", said Nick Clegg.

Liberty Director Shami Chakrabarti, quoted on the BBC website, said: "The soaring costs and declining support for the grand ID card folly are increasingly inescapable. Surely this dangerous and expensive idea must leave Number 10 with its author?"