David Davis has written to Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O’Donnell, giving formal notice that an incoming Conservative administration would scrap the Government’s ID card project.
The Shadow Home Secretary warned of the financial dangers of the Government signing contracts to set up the ID card scheme when it faces cancellation if the Conservatives win the next election.
In his letter, Mr Davis asked what provision, if any, has been made in the relevant contractual arrangements to protect the Government – and public funds – against the costs that would be incurred as a result of early cancellation of the scheme; with a similar letter sent to likely major contractors, warning them of Tory intentions.
Coming before the Conservatives launch a web and print based campaign against Labour’s ID cards proposals, Mr Davis told Sir Gus: "As you will be aware, the Conservative Party has stated publicly that it is our intention to cancel the ID card project immediately on our being elected to government. You are now formally on notice of our position and fully appraised of the contingent risks and associated liabilities arising from the national identity card scheme."
Referring to the planned roll out of the Government’s national identity card scheme later this year, Mr Davis reminded the Cabinet Secretary of the longstanding convention that one Parliament may not bind a subsequent Parliament.
He wrote: "I urge you to consider very carefully the Government’s position, in advance of the roll-out of the scheme later this year. As a matter of financial prudence, it is incumbent upon you to ensure that public money is not wasted, and contractual obligations are not incurred, investing in a scheme with such a high risk of not being implemented. In particular, I would be interested to know what provision, if any, has been made in the relevant contractual arrangements to protect the Government – and public funds – against the costs that would be incurred as a result of early cancellation of the scheme.
Separately, prison violence has risen under Labour, according to research released by the Liberal Democrats.
Parliamentary answers to the Lib Dems show that there were 2,342 violent incidents in prison in 1996; by 2005 this figure had risen to 13,771, the equivalent of nearly two an hour. During the same period the prison population had risen by a third.
Liberal Democrat Leader Menzies Campbell will be meeting Anne Owers, Chief Inspector of Prisons, on Tuesday to discuss the link between escalating prison violence and prison overcrowding.
Menzies Campbell said: "Ten years of Labour mismanagement of the prison and criminal justice system have left our prisons in crisis and the public at risk. If you keep putting people on an already crowded ship eventually the ship will start to sink.
"Prisons are so full they have become ineffective and increasingly dangerous. We need effective solutions. Liberal Democrat proposals will reduce the prison population, cut reoffending and ensure greater safety for the British people."
And meanwhile, a radically different approach to crime needed, according to the Lib Dems.
Commenting on a European security survey, which describes the UK as a "high crime" country with "common crime" above the European Union average, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Nick Clegg MP said: "So much for Tony Blair’s tough-talking 10-year record on crime. These days it is on crime that we are the ‘sick man of Europe’.
"These figures confirm what an increasing number of people already know. We need a radically different approach to crime if we are to emulate some of the best practice elsewhere in Europe. The Government should ask itself why the prisons are at bursting point and yet the level of several crimes are still higher than elsewhere in the EU. The present strategy must be rethought urgently."
