Home Office: Majority of UK supports ID cards
Kablenet.com
Published: 10 Mar 2008 08:55 GMT
Support for the National Identity Scheme remains stable, according to a survey of more than 2,000 people carried out for the Home Office by Taylor Nelson Sofres in February.
The research, released on 6 March, 2008, found that 59 percent of those questioned supported the scheme, with 23 percent opposed. A similar survey by Taylor Nelson Sofres in October 2007 found 59 percent in support, with 20 percent against.
However, a survey by ICM on 1,008 people, also carried out in February and using a question mentioning a likely price of £93 for a biometric passport, found 50 percent in opposition and 47 percent in favour. A poll by YouGov for The Daily Telegraph in December found 48 percent of respondents opposed the scheme and 43 percent were in favour.
The Taylor Nelson Sofres research found that the top reason given by opponents of the scheme was "infringement on my personal freedom", followed closely by the beliefs that the scheme will not work, will be too expensive and is unnecessary. Each of these reasons was mentioned by a quarter or more of those disagreeing, with respondents able to choose more than one answer.
The main reason all respondents believed the scheme was being introduced was immigration, mentioned by 33 percent, up from 23 percent in February and 32 percent in October. Other questions found that respondents saw fighting terrorism, crime and identity fraud as the top potential benefits.
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The poll also showed widespread misunderstanding of the scheme. Three-quarters of respondents believed that ID cards will have to be carried at all times, with only 17 percent correctly believing that they will not.
But 56 percent thought that ID cards will be provided free of charge, with just 34 percent saying this is not the case, perhaps explaining the difference in results among different polls.
Respondents said they were most comfortable with using parts of the public sector to have their fingerprints scanned, conflicting with plans to enhance the private sector's role. The most popular location given was post offices (37 percent), followed by local council offices (34 percent) and passport offices (33 percent). Banks, the top private-sector location, were mentioned by 24 percent.
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