Birmingham Post: The introduction of identity cards and biometric passports will cost more than £5.6 billion over the next 10 years, according to a Government estimate.
Under the Identity Card Act, all foreign nationals in the UK are required to carry biometric ID cards from 2008, and all UK passport applicants will be issued with them from 2010.
The Home Office's Identity and Passport Service (IPS) acknowledged that, as with any cost estimates covering a 10-year forward period, there are "uncertainties" over the eventual cost of the scheme.
Mark Wallace, of the Taxpayers' Alliance campaign for lower taxes, said: "Biometric ID cards and the national database that will go with them are a vastly expensive project. Even the quite conservative Home Office predictions see the taxpayer bearing a heavy burden for the scheme, assuming there are no problems.
"In practice, we know that Government computer projects almost always come in hugely over budget, years after deadlines and regularly suffer severe technical problems. The financial threat to the taxpayer posed by ID cards is just as concerning as the civil liberties implications."
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