Why so expensive to get ID in the UK? Why no free national identity cards?

sheramber

Beachcomber372 said:

Tucosalamanca said:

Beachcomber372 said:

My partner and 16,19 and 21 year old sons need ID for opening bank accounts. Proving their identity is very difficult so we've decided to apply for passports for them even though we have no intention of going abroad. All the costs of getting 4 passports is going going to cost about £450 and they will need renewing every 10 years at more cost. How can people on a low income be expected to pay so much just to prove who they are to do basic things like opening a bank account, voting etc.. Why aren't all UK citizens issued a free National Idenity Card?

All are of working age and a passport costs about a day's wage. Hardly unreasonable.

But with the cost of living many people are living hand to mouth or are in debt and simply cannot afford to get a passport. We've decided to get passports to make life easier and currently able to afford it but I think it's unfair people should have to pay just to prove who they are. I'd love to know what Martin Lewis thinks about all this but I guess he probably won't even see this thread 😒

Martin Lewis sold this site several years ago. 

You need to contact him direct or through his tv programme. 

Beachcomber372

sheramber said:

Beachcomber372 said:

Tucosalamanca said:

Beachcomber372 said:

My partner and 16,19 and 21 year old sons need ID for opening bank accounts. Proving their identity is very difficult so we've decided to apply for passports for them even though we have no intention of going abroad. All the costs of getting 4 passports is going going to cost about £450 and they will need renewing every 10 years at more cost. How can people on a low income be expected to pay so much just to prove who they are to do basic things like opening a bank account, voting etc.. Why aren't all UK citizens issued a free National Idenity Card?

All are of working age and a passport costs about a day's wage. Hardly unreasonable.

But with the cost of living many people are living hand to mouth or are in debt and simply cannot afford to get a passport. We've decided to get passports to make life easier and currently able to afford it but I think it's unfair people should have to pay just to prove who they are. I'd love to know what Martin Lewis thinks about all this but I guess he probably won't even see this thread 😒

Martin Lewis sold this site several years ago. 

You need to contact him direct or through his tv programme. 

I didn't know that, why is there still a picture of him on here 🤔

eskbanker

Beachcomber372 said:

sheramber said:

Martin Lewis sold this site several years ago. 

You need to contact him direct or through his tv programme. 

I didn't know that, why is there still a picture of him on here 🤔

He's still loosely involved at a high level but would never have been expected to read every thread on the forum!

In 2012, MSE joined the MoneySupermarket Group – with Martin continuing in his role as Editor-in-Chief. At the end of 2015, the period contracted in the sale, the contractual relationship was over and Martin could have left (or been asked to leave).

Yet no one wanted that. So in 2016 Martin moved from Editor-in-Chief to a permanent new role as MSE's Executive Chair, overseeing the site, focusing on journalism and content quality, ethics, strategy and creativity. A role he relished and continues to do to this day – still writing lots of content, overseeing the editorial line and playing the leading role in MSE and what it does.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/site/martin-lewis-biography/

Q. Will Martin's picture continue to be on the masthead?

Martin's A. "I think the site is now strong enough in its own right that it doesn't need it – and should move away from me to an extent.

"Plus I think it's fair whoever is in charge of the content gets credit too (though there are many other unsung heroes). So we hope to redesign the masthead in time, so that my picture isn't on it, but it will still have both my name as Chairman and the name of the new Editor-in-Chief."

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2015/07/martin-lewis-to-remain-at-moneysavingexpertcom-in-new-role-as-chairman/

Hoenir

Beachcomber372 said:

but I think it's unfair people should have to pay just to prove who they are.

Who pays then?  A reoccurring theme these days. 

ZeroSum

unforeseen said:

Why aren't all UK citizens issued a free National Idenity Card?

Because the people who wear tinfoil hats made a fuss about how the government would be able to track them and gather more information.

In part, but I don't believe they were to be free. I was against them purely as it was an additional tax, being charged to have something that was compulsory.

Whilst there also wasn't anything explicitly stating they wouldn't be free, the fact they never said they would be spoke volumes 

sheramber

I

https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/lln-2016-0002/

n 2002, the then Labour Government launched a consultation on entitlement cards (later referred to by the Government as “identity cards”). Of those who responded, the majority supported an ID card scheme. The Identity Cards Bill was introduced into the House of Commons by the Government on 29 November 2004. The Bill completed its Commons stages and received second reading in the House of Lords, but was dropped before it completed its remaining stages due to the timing of the 2005 general election. A similar Bill was introduced into Parliament on 25 May 2005 and received royal assent on 30 March 2006. The Identity Cards Act 2006 created a framework for national identity cards in the UK and a national identity register. 

Following a change of government in 2010, the Identity Documents Act 2010 was passed by the Conservative–Liberal Democrat Coalition Government. The Act cancelled ID cards and enabled the disposal of information recorded in the national identity register. The UK national identity card ceased to be a legal document for confirming a person’s identity on 21 January 2011 and all data was “securely destroyed” along with the national identity register on 10 February 2011. The current Government has said it has “no plans” to reintroduce identity cards for British citizens. 

https://www.gov.uk/identitycards

Identity cards were scrapped in 2011 - they’re no longer valid and you can’t use them as proof of identify.

You don’t have to return your identity card. You should destroy it or keep it in a safe place.

The fee you paid won’t be refunded.

400ixl

86.5% of the adult UK population have a current passport, 75% have a driving license. With some overlap you are probably north of 90% having one of the forms of identification.

Given that only 2.1% of the population do not have a bank account it does not seem to be a big issue and spending billions for a small percentage makes little sense.

Can't say I know of any adult or teenager who does not have a bank account. Some of those I know do not have passports or driving licenses so it must be possible to do it with other sources with a bit of effort.

Personally a national Identity wallet would be a good idea and allowing the citizen to decide what data can be stored on it and who can access it is a good idea and is the way that Scandinavia is going. To make it a digital wallet for far more use is the only way to really make it affordable, and giving the control to the citizen the only way to make it acceptable.

boingy

sheramber said:

<snip>

The fee you paid won’t be refunded.

I've just thought of a way the next govt can earn money whilst sticking to their (ridiculous) promise not to raise any taxes or introduce any austerity measures... 

PocketWatchMan

400ixl said:

86.5% of the adult UK population have a current passport, 75% have a driving license. With some overlap you are probably north of 90% having one of the forms of identification.

Given that only 2.1% of the population do not have a bank account it does not seem to be a big issue and spending billions for a small percentage makes little sense.

Can't say I know of any adult or teenager who does not have a bank account. Some of those I know do not have passports or driving licenses so it must be possible to do it with other sources with a bit of effort.

Personally a national Identity wallet would be a good idea and allowing the citizen to decide what data can be stored on it and who can access it is a good idea and is the way that Scandinavia is going. To make it a digital wallet for far more use is the only way to really make it affordable, and giving the control to the citizen the only way to make it acceptable.

Nice idea in a perfect world.. though in the real world no Government will allow citizens only to decide what data can be stored on their ID wallet. they might wax lyrical about how they say they will, but they will never allow it, ultimately. certainly not in the long run. 

Secondly if this were a digital wallet, I can assure you that no criminal would use their own ID. within very short order, probably hours, they will use yours. or your family members. You only have to look around you and digital theft is consistently soaring.. and what happens when your personal data is in someone else's hands. newsflash: you will never ever get it all back. 

Cast your mind back a few years, when Apple proudly announced that their new biometrics system made their iphone uncrackable in the hands of criminals - that pride lasted almost a full day. before it was bypassed. Check out any number of security podcasts, or crime forums, and you will see demos where people's phones, or digital banking, can be compromised in literally minutes. Heck, just go over a few forums on here, and stories about online banking fraud, phone theft and fraud, are a dime a dozen. 

pecunianonolet

In case somebody cares to know the cost of ID cards in Germany

https://www.personalausweisportal.de/Webs/PA/EN/citizens/german-id-card/fees-and-validity/fees-and-validity-node.html;jsessionid=C89CB26CC9DA8FA14943044E0FCCC523.live892

In Germany you can have a passport on top or just a passport but by law you are required to proof who you are if asked e.g. by the police.

ID cards can be used to travel freely within any EU country, to vote, to proof your age when buying alcohol or tobacco products, to register a car, open a bank account, sign up to a mobile phone contract, to rent a place, at the tax office, any notary business, to get into clubs and bars, start a job, pick up a parcel from the post office and many more cases.

Your permanent address is written on it and can be changed free of charge at the council should you move so no need to run around with council tax or utility bills to prove your address.

Again, if somebody cares, UK passports are printed in Poland and personalised in UK. by Thales who happen to also produce residence permit ID cards. 

https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/markets/digital-identity-and-security/government/customer-cases/uk-passport

ID cards should be mandatory for everyone for day to day life. This would make things a lot easier in many ways and would probably also help a lot in fraud prevention across so many areas. It would be a cheaper alternative for those not travelling internationally and not needing a passport.