Identity Cards Bill

I want to make some progress. My two key points are, first, that the costs of the scheme are both realistic and affordable for the Government and the individual citizen and, secondly, that it is worth making the investment now because Britain does not have a high-standard, comprehensive system of identification. We have published the expected costs of issuing ID cards, and the current best estimate of the annual average running costs of issuing ID cards and passports to British citizens is £584 million, from the start of the ID scheme, including the cost of compiling and running the national identity register.