Police will have powers to stop and check people against a national biometric database under plans for a compulsory identity card scheme to be unveiled by David Blunkett.

Government Response: Home Office

David Blunkett, home secretary said:  "We are taking action now to prepare the UK for the challenges of the 21st century - the challenges of crime, security, the speed and nature of communication and international travel, and the number of sophisticated and complex transactions that we as individuals need to do effectively and securely.

"In an increasingly technologically complex and global world, correct identification has become critically important, and we want to ensure that UK citizens are properly protected and equipped to deal with this emerging world. We need to have the freedom to live without being exploited, to prove quickly and decisively who we are and to travel freely. And we need to be protected, to ensure the security of our country, tackle crime, terrorism and illegal immigration, and make sure that our services are only used by those who are entitled to them.

"We have a right to live in a free and open society and we are used to taking people at face value - trusting them to be who they say they are. However, recent events have brought home how the need for trust and confidence actually require us to move beyond this. We must take the opportunity offered by new biometric technology which allows for a completely new level of verifying identity.

"ID fraud is a growing crime, costing the country more than £1.3 billion per year. Multiple or false identities are used in more than a third of terrorist related activity and in organised crime and money laundering. It is crucial we are able robustly to ascertain and verify our own and others' identities.

"The public understand this and there is widespread support for an ID cards scheme. There has been a growing recognition that, rather than threatening our vital freedoms, ID cards would actually help preserve them.

"Right across the world there is a drive to increase document security with biometrics, including the development of biometrics in passports and visas. We need to continue to play a leading role in shaping the way the world responds to the challenge of secure
identification, so that our citizens can reap the benefits.

"Costs are inevitable if biometrics are included in passports and visas. Recognising that the main cost will have to be met in achieving secure documents, the identity cards scheme will also provide a way of helping the least well off to have the same means of proving their identity as those who can afford to travel abroad.

"This is an ambitious, long-term project, and we are absolutely clear that it will take some years to get it right, using outside expertise and stringent reviews."

Forum Response: British Youth Council

Blossom Young, British Youth Council chairperson, said: "BYC strongly opposes the government's proposals for a compulsory identity card. When consulting young people on this topic for our submission to last year's Home Office consultation, we found that 65 per cent favoured a voluntary scheme with seven per cent opposing any scheme. We are keen to see exactly what elements of compulsion, other than the obligation to carry the card, the draft Bill will put in place to ensure compliance and what sanctions will be used against those who are non-compliant.