Tony Blair has sought to focus attention on the government's plans for identity cards amid controversy over the home secretary's position.

The prime minister expressed his full confidence in the home secretary before calling on the media to focus his achievements in areas such as ID cards and combating crime.

"We know false identities are important to terrorists and criminals because of the frequency with which they use them," he said.

While he admitted they were not a "silver bullet" which would defeat terrorism at all, he said they would be "an important element" in combating the new global threat.

"ID cards will help to bear down on fraud and help ensure that our public services will not be used by those who are not entitled," he said.

"I believe this is responsible government, not as some have called it 'Big Brother government'.

"It is responsible to do what we can to enhance security and ensure that public services are only used by those who are actually entitled to use them.

"ID cards will also make our borders more secure, they will make our free public services and our benefits system more secure."

He said the security of the ID card database "is vital".

There will be a maximum 10 years sentence for anyone guilty of tampering with the ID database and two years for anyone who works on the database and discloses information, he revealed.

'Protecting the people'

Speaking in the Commons later on Monday, David Blunkett said ministers had to "look at what is necessary to protect our people".

He said the government's plans were designed "not to bring fear but remove fearfulness from people's lives".

Blunkett said the ID cards would "help tackle the activities of organised criminals and terrorists who depend on the use of multiple identities".

"Safeguards to ensure protection of privacy are a critical part of the identity cards scheme. But our liberties will be strengthened, not weakened, by a universal scheme which ensures that all citizens' identities are protected from abuse," he said.

Biometric technology

Controversy has surrounded the plans to introduce the biometric cards alongside new passports from 2008 in a bid to assist in the fight against crime, terrorism, illegal immigration and employment abuses.

But immigration minister Des Browne said on Monday that opinion polls showed 80 per cent of people backed the scheme, despite its estimated cost of £3 billion to the taxpayer and £85 to each card holder and civil liberties concerns.

"Having a secure form of identity for important transactions and if it also guarantees that nobody else is using or misusing an identity will be a significant advantage to people in this country," he told the BBC.

"This is not about bringing in a new culture of identification. We are not creating new situations to demand people prove their identity.

"The point is that in those situations where you already have to fill in forms with your details, an ID card will give you a way to do it which is more convenient for you and it is also more secure.

"It will make Britain a more secure place by disrupting the use of false and multiple identities for serious crime, for terrorism, for drug-running, for people-smuggling.

"It will make our borders more secure, it will help us tackle illegal immigration and illegal working.

"And it will make our free public services and our benefits system more secure by helping to prevent people who are not entitled to have access to them having access to them."