How many “soft releases” does the Government’s ID card scheme need?

It was introduced in November 2008 -  but “only” for foreign nationals who come to the UK under a visa, to work, study or marry.

Then this autumn, “only” airside workers at Manchester and London City airports were selected as the scheme’s next guinea pigs.

Not content with targeting people on the basis of nationality or occupation, Jacqui Smith has announced her latest “volunteers”: the City of Manchester.  Oh, and young people.

From The Guardian:

“The Home Office said it was trying to identify some parts of the country where people would be able to apply for ID cards on a voluntary basis from the end of this year.

“There are already plans to make them available to young people on a nationwide basis from 2010, before offering them to all adults over the following two years.

“But Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, also wants to establish “beacon areas” where all adults would be free to apply for one before the national roll-out. On a regional visit today, she said that Manchester was “in the running” to be one of these areas.”

Obviously the aim is for us all to have one, but with 50,000 ID cards planned to have been issued to foreign nationals by April, we’re way past the thin end of the wedge already…

You can sign the Liberal Democrats’ petition against ID cards here.