Yard chief casts doubt on ID cards scheme

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair today cast doubt on whether the Government's identity card scheme will work.

Sir Ian said he supported the cards in principle as a weapon against terrorism.

But he voiced concern over the biometric technology which ministers hope will make the cards forgery-proof.

The Home Office has experimented with eye scans, face scans and fingerprints but admitted last month that none were yet reliable enough.

Sir Ian's caution is a setback for the Government as it prepares to push the legislation through a sceptical Commons and Lords.

He told the London Assembly that experts were divided over the dependability of iris scans, seen as the best prospect for success.

He said the cards would only be of use if the recognition of holders was "almost perfect".

"The key issue is, they have to work. I'm now seeing different experts with different points of view. There are a whole pile of logistics that need to be got right," he said.

The Home Office plans to issue the first identity cards in

2008. By 2012 it would be compulsory to have one.

The estimated cost to individuals will be ?93 for an ID card and passport.

Sir Ian pointed to the case of convicted ricin plot terrorist Kamel Bourgass as an example of why ID cards are needed.

The Algerian is serving a jail sentence for his part in a poison plot, but police and ministers admit they have no idea who he really is.