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| 'Bad news' over ID cards 'buried' | |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| The government has been accused of "burying bad news" over the soaring costs of the ID card scheme. | |
| The Home Office released figures showing the scheme will now cost more than £5bn, just as Tony Blair announced his resignation as Labour leader. | |
| Shadow Treasury Minister Mark Hoban said in the Commons: "This is clearly a good day to bury bad news." | |
| The Home Office put the £400m increased costs down to extra staff carrying out vetting and extra anti-fraud measures. | |
| Compulsory | |
| Projected costs from 2006 to 2016 were calculated to be £5.31bn, compared with previous estimates of £4.91bn. | |
| The Home Secretary is required by law to give Parliament an update on the costs every six months. | |
| But at Commons questions, Mr Hoban said: "This is clearly a good day to bury bad news and that's why the report on the cost of the ID card scheme has been published today, nearly a month late and in breach of the law." | |
| He said the Treasury had yet to approve the expenditure for the scheme and questioned whether Chancellor Gordon Brown would scrap it if he became Prime Minister. | |
| Treasury Chief Secretary Stephen Timms told him that the Treasury would approve the costs of the scheme. | |
| ID cards are not due to become compulsory until at least 2010. | ID cards are not due to become compulsory until at least 2010. |
| The Tories and Liberal Democrats oppose ID cards and say they would scrap them if they got into power. | The Tories and Liberal Democrats oppose ID cards and say they would scrap them if they got into power. |