Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by David Laws (Liberal Democrat). It was answered on Thursday, 13 July 2006 on behalf of the Treasury.

Fundamental Savings Review

Question: Can the Chancellor explain why, in the Home Office section of the report, identity cards are not even mentioned as one of the Home Office spending priorities? Is that because the Treasury was responsible for the leak by David Foord of the Office of Government Commerce, who talked about the unaffordability of the ID card project and a ““lack of clear benefits””? He said:"““Just because ministers say do something does not mean we ignore reality””." Has the Chancellor finally accepted the reality, which is that the scheme will not wash?

Answer: Sometimes I think that the hon. Gentleman lives in a completely unreal world. Identity cards are the policy of this Government. I should have thought that the more that people see the chances of their identity being stolen by organised crime, the more that they would support identity cards. The Opposition parties have made a very big mistake in opposing identity cards, which are part of the spending settlement for the Home Office.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 448 c1476
Session: 2005-06
Oral question type: Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons chamber
Subjects: Identity cards Public expenditure Finance Government departments Economic growth Ministerial statements
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk