Tory and Liberal Democrat peers have accused the government of rushing the legislation on identity cards so that it can stress its national security credentials in the run-up to the general election.

Baroness Anelay, the Tory home affairs spokeswoman, said: "The government must have known it would never have time to take it through both houses if they set their minds on an early election."

She said it was clear that "the government's plan [is] to blame us for [its] own failure to give adequate time to the bill. That won't work."

Lord Navnit Dholakia, the Liberal Democrats' home affairs spokesman in the Lords, added: "This is an unreal situation. On one hand we have the anticipation of the general election; on the other, bills are being pushed through the house which unlikely to end up on the statute book for some time to come.

"Why this haste? The government has its own reasons. It's nothing to do with the bill being enacted; it's another item on its agenda of tough on crime and the causes of crime."