The Guardian reported, in March 2007, that: "An estimated 10,000 British passports were issued after fraudulent applications in the space of a year - and al-Qaida terrorists have successfully faked applications, the Home Office admitted" (see: http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,2038442,00.html)With the Government's own resources unable to cope with the threat of identity fraud (especially as seen lately with the DWP sending thousands of pensioners' personal and bank details to the wrong people) can we really trust that the identity card scheme isn't going to get corrupted?
What safeguards are there that the identity card scheme will be any more successful in catching and preventing fraudulant applications? And, if these safeguards exist, why are they not currently being used in checking passport applications? If there aren't any safeguards, and the whole point of identity cards in the first place is to help in the war on terror by allowing our security forces to identify threats, why should we bother to continue with this costly exercise and the systematic tracking of honest, law-abiding citizens?
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