CALLED TO ORDURE
EARLY debates about digital ID cards have not been, for government whips, an unqualified success. Labour backbenchers have fled from the chamber rather than endorse the policy. Even some pro-card MPs admitted their constituents hated the idea.
The ruse (unmentioned in Labour’s election manifesto) was announced by No 10 in September to create some pre-party-conference excitement. It met with immediate groans. Once the Labour faithful gathered in Liverpool, ministers seemed to have quite forgotten the idea.