ID cards: Public support continues to decline

Not just one poll, but two...

A growing number of people in the UK are opposed to the introduction of biometric ID cards.

More than half the people questioned by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust (JRRT) thought the cards, which were introduced for British citizens last year, were a "bad or very bad idea". This was up on a JRRT poll in 2006 when only 33 per cent of people opposed the cards.

The State of the Nation Survey for 2010 questioned more than 2,200 people aged over 18.

ID cards are becoming increasingly unpopular in the UK
(Image credit: Home Office)

The popularity of ID cards, which contain a microchip holding a scan of a person's photo and fingerprints, has steadily declined among the UK population since the project was announced in 2002.

The scheme has suffered numerous setbacks, including repeated delays to the cards' rollout, cuts to the cards' capabilities and the Tory pledge to axe the scheme if elected this year.

In a separate poll, scrapping ID cards is the second most popular measure voted for by the public so far in a survey of how government should be reformed.

The online poll, which is still taking place, is being conducted by Power2010, a group campaigning for reform of UK government that is funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust and the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust.

More than 9,700 votes have been cast in support of scrapping ID cards, just behind the most popular proposal, to introduce a proportional representation voting system.