ID card database gets scrapped

Home Secretary John Reid stunned the IT community today by announcing that the database for ID cards will not be run on a new computer system but instead on three existing systems. Sceptics of the ID card system have long argued that one monolithic National Identity Register is unworkable. Reid denies the decision is in any sense a U-turn, saying it has been made to save cost, increase efficiency, and get the service onstream faster.

Verdict: The ID card scheme is already a laughing stock. Although its logic is just about acceptable, it is becoming apparent that the Government is incapable of managing its creation in anyway near an effective manner. It has upset industry by making the procurement system a fiasco, it has upset security experts by failing to address key concerns, and it is bound to upset the tax payer due to enormous costs and limited effectiveness. Bearing in mind that many people (myself included) do not need to get a new passport for almost ten years, the system will only be theoretically effective in 2016, thus in IT terms it will be the slowest build project ever undertaken. Finally the government has no answer to the fact that any potential terrorists residing elsewhere in Europe will be able to move around in the UK without registering their ID at any time. Others visiting the UK will often be able to reside for six months before being registered.