http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/27/blunkett_hac_response/"The Home Office today confirmed, as first reported here, that the UK national ID card is to be issued alongside passports.* This effectively pre-empts a future Parliamentary decision on whether or not they should be made compulsory, because anyone who needs to renew their passport will be 'volunteered'.
The move, which comes alongside the announcement of a new executive agency to run and deliver the ID scheme, the publication of the results of the latest consultation and David Blunkett's riposte to the Home Affairs Committee, was made in order to 'simplify the operation of the scheme, and reflects public support for a universal card.'"
