Blunkett believes that Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain should support the ministerial initiative in her address to the nation, scheduled for November 26. In an interview with the BBC, the minister said he hopes the bill will be presented to parliament as early as autumn. The British government proposed introducing plastic identity cards as part of its anti-terrorism plan, which became particularly relevant after the events of September 11.
Currently, there is no national identity card system in the country. It is sometimes replaced by a passport, which Britons are only required to obtain when travelling abroad, and the most common document is a driving licence.
Blunkett insists that the introduction of identity cards will effectively shut off the tap through which illegal immigrants siphon funds from Britain's social services. The minister admitted that the government does not have exact figures on the number of illegal immigrants in the country, but the new system should accelerate the process of their legalization. According to the ministry's plans, without an identity card it will be impossible to get a job or apply for payments from state social funds.
Meanwhile, voices of discontent with the project are growing louder in the UK. Many human rights activists believe that the introduction of identity cards infringes on the rights and freedoms of Britons. Despite the ministry's statements that carrying an identity card would not be mandatory, some fear that the system harbors the danger of abuse. "Of course, there is normal skepticism. Much debate revolves around how mandatory and coercive the system should be," the minister himself admits.
Many opponents of the Home Office project cite countries that already have national identity cards, but this has had no effect on terrorist threats. Other opponents of Blunkett believe that the bill contradicts the principles enshrined in the UK's Human Rights Act of 1998.
The human rights organization Liberty fears that thousands of innocent Britons could suffer because they cannot produce an ID at the right moment. "The government should back off, take a deep breath, and put its project where it belongs - in the dustbin of history," said Mark Littlewood, head of Liberty.