The Conservative Party has launched a campaign against the government’s ID cards proposals, including sending a direct warning to IT vendors likely to bid for work on the project that the plans would definitely be scrapped under a Tory government.
Shadow Home Secretary David Davis has written to Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell and likely major contractors to give formal notice that the Tory party would scrap the controversial ID cards project if it came to power. Davis also questioned if any provision had been made to protect public funds against the cost of early cancellation of the scheme.
The letters are part of a new Tory party campaign against the ID cards proposals. The Conservatives have launched a web site containing their key arguments against the scheme and directing visitors to a petition to show their agreement. The online petition, which currently has around 16,000 signatures, is available to sign until 15 February.
As part of the campaign to stop the ID cards project, the Conservatives highlighted the current government’s “terrible record of large-scale IT disasters”. They also argued that the scheme would give the government access to too much personal data in one place. “Your ID card will hold almost 30 separate pieces of personal information,” the site warns. “All this information will also be stored on a massive Home Office ID cards database, called the National Identity Register.”
IT trade association Intellect did not expect the Conservative campaign to have much effect on IT suppliers, however.
“The letter is not likely to put off suppliers interested in bidding for ID projects,” said Intellect director Nick Kalisperas. “They were already aware of any risk factors involved.”
Intellect argued that the campaign could damage relations between the Tory party and the IT industry. “We don’t believe the letter was an appropriate way to behave. We feel the industry is being used to score political points,” Kalisperas said. “The act could also undermine confidence in any future Conservative administration and its commitment to current investment and policies, and may lead to suppliers trying to put [protection] clauses into other government contracts.”
In response to Conservative claims that the ID card project could be another IT disaster, Kalisperas said that the Tories should have first entered into a dialogue with industry “to see the work we’ve been doing to mitigate against failures”.
