16/1/2008

A Welsh Liberal Democrat debate calling for ID Cards not to be used to
access public services in Wales has been passed with unanimous cross party support.

The vote guarantees that any move to introduce ID cards by Labour in Westminster will have no impact on access to health and education services in Wales.

Mike German, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, said: "This is a powerful message to Westminster: Wales is not interested in ID cards.

"Last time we voted on this motion the Labour Party abstained. Today, they are in support. We were expecting someone on the Labour benches to stand up and defend their party's policy, to explain the case being put forward in Westminster. But no. Not one single Labour AM has stood up. We've heard absolutely nothing from the Labour Assembly Members.

"I'm pleased because it says to me that there isn't a great deal of
enthusiasm for ID cards in Wales.

"ID cards are an excuse for the state to meddle in peoples' lives. They are an unwarranted intrusion in our lives. They won't combat terrorism and fraud, because we've seen in other countries these crimes still exist.

"I'm grateful that this Assembly will unanimously stand by our position and send a strong message to your [Labour] colleagues in London that ID cards are not welcome in Wales."

Earlier in the debate, social justice spokesperson Peter Black said: "To require the production of an ID card for access to public services will also require the Welsh Assembly Government to participate in a potentially expensive and disastrous database project.

"We have already seen that Government cannot be trusted with our private data. If that database were also to include details of our medical treatment, our use of local government services and our education records then not only would our entire lives be an open book to anybody with a suitable card reader, but the risk of identity theft and fraud would be magnified many times. We cannot take that risk.

"The frightening prospect of a draconian future rears in front of us wherein hospitals, police stations and social security offices across Britain, electronic readers will connect scanned cards to a massive central database in order to prove the identities of card-bearers.

"We urge all parties to support this motion to enable the Assembly to mitigate to the best of its powers the Big Brother future the UK Labour Government wants to impose on us."