British government drops ID card plan

LONDON, June 30 (UPI) -- A pilot program requiring ID cards for workers at two airports has been dropped, along with plans for universal ID cards, the British government said Tuesday.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said the identity cards, introduced last year, will still be available, The Daily Mail reported. But obtaining a card will be voluntary for employees at Manchester and London City airports, where the experiment was started last year.

"Holding an identity card should be a personal choice for British citizens -- just as it is now to obtain a passport," Johnson said.

The government's previous plan had been to make the cards compulsory for a growing number of Britons, starting with airport workers, and require them of all adults when 80 percent of the population was covered.

Chris Grayling, the Conservative Party's shadow home secretary, suggested dropping the plan was another sign the Labor government has lost its way.

"They have spent millions on the scheme so far -- the home secretary thinks it has been a waste and wants to scrap it, but the prime minister won't let him," he said. "So we end up with an absurd fudge instead. This is no way to run the country."