ID timetable revealed

The government's controversial plan to require foreign nationals to acquire identity cards has taken another step forward. Revealing the timetable for the roll-out, home secretary Jacqui Smith told BBC Breakfast the initiative will extend to those who work in high-risk locations next year, while students will be encouraged to give their details from 2010 and anyone obtaining a passport will be added to the database from 2011. The Conservative party has criticised the scheme and suggested that the government's history of data loss incidents does not bode well for National Identity Register's future. Shadow home secretary David Davis said the register could pose "a severe threat to our security and a real target for criminals, hackers and terrorists". "Serial scandals of loss of data have destroyed people's belief in this white... [read full story]