Labour Home Office Minister calls for compulsory ID Cards

3.17.15pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 29th Sep 2006

UK National Identity Card (Design Mock-up)

Liam Byrne, Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Home Office Minister has called for compulsory ID Cards for all.

The Liberal Democrats oppose ID Cards for a number of reasons, namely they will not prevent terrorism, stop crime or benefit fraud but waste a lot of money that could be better spent on putting more police on the streets.

Birmingham Liberal Democrat Washwood Heath Councillor Tariq Khan said "This again shows how illiberal this Labour Government and Liam Byrne are - it was not so long ago that another Home Office Minister was telling us ID Cards would lead to more Asians and Black people being stopped and searched - is this what Labour and Liam Byrne want?"