http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/09/15/ukis_immigrant_id_trawl/
John Lettice
"As the UK Home Office has stressed on numerous occasions, police will not be given powers to demand ID papers from you as and when a national identity card is introduced. The Home Office has not however shouted quite so loudly about the fact that the Immigration and Nationalities Directorate (IND) has these powers already, and has been busily using them since at least May 2003.
In a House of Commons written answer (reported here, and in Hansard here, immigration minister Des Browne confirmed that 'a variety of joint multi-agency street crime operations' has been mounted in London over the past 15 months, and that: 'Focusing on crime hotspots, the Immigration Service has been invited to attend where an immigration offence is expected.'"
