The government is being too vague about its plans to introduce identity cards, MPs have said.

Chairman of the Commons science and technology committee Phil Willis said the fact that the private sector is speaking openly about its concerns over the programme "should set alarm bells in the Home Office ringing".

The committee's report, published on Friday, said the lack of information released by the government made it "difficult to ascertain the true scope of the scheme and to fully understand how technology will be used within the scheme".

The Telegraph interprets Tony Blair's insistence yesterday that ID cards would be a "major plank" of Labour's next election manifesto as a sign that the scheme has hit further delay.