LONDON, April 11 (UPI) -- A British opposition leader has criticized his government's plan to issue all citizens identification cards as a security measure.
"I really worry about whether we are embarking on a course of action that will be expensive and complicated and has civil liberties implications and will ultimately be unproductive," Oliver Letwin told the BBC Saturday.
"We really ought to be very careful before we go down that road that there is a practical outcome that is worth a candle," said Shadow Chancellor Letwin,.
Britain's home secretary, David Blunkett, has acknowledged some members of the Cabinet have reservations about the plan, to be released next month. But Blunkett insists the ID proposal will help fight the threat of terrorism.
Under Blunkett's plan, carrying ID cards would become mandatory after 80 percent of British citizens had one -- estimated to occur in 2013.
A Home Office spokesman told the BBC: "Terrorists use false identities to help finance their activities in the U.K. and abroad. ... Disrupting their activities is a key priority. ID cards will help us do this."
