UK travellers could soon be carrying plastic combined passports and identity cards, under plans announced by the Home Secretary David Blunkett.
The Government yesterday announced its intention to have travellers carrying the new cards within four years, and admitted that the new cards, which could combine passport, driving licence and general ID card, would cost as much as GBP77.
In addition, they would have to be renewed every few years; critics have already pointed out that having a passport could cost as much as GBP1,000 over a lifetime. Blunkett is reportedly keen for the introduction of identity cards with biometric information stored on them; that is, an image of the person’s iris.
He told the Daily Telegraph that many other countries are close to insisting that travel documents carry such biometric information, and that the UK would be rendered a “soft touch” if it gets left behind.
If the Government’s proposals go according to plan, the new cards will be held by everyone in the UK by 2013.
