A government memo that is currently circulating White Hall has been leaked to the press, and claims that the Labour government is planning to making biometric identification compulsory in the United Kingdom within the next four years. The Labour government has stated that if they are re-elected, they will make biometric identification compulsory for all British citizens. The government hopes to get their biometric database started by recording the fingerprints of around 500,000 children per year starting from 2010.  

Quote: "Opposition politicians and privacy campaigners warn that the plans show ministers are turning Britain into a “surveillance society”. David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said: "This borders on the sinister and it shows the government is trying to end the presumption of innocence. With the fingerprinting of all our children, this government is clearly determined to enforce major changes in the relationship between the citizen and the state in a way never seen before."

The plans to bring in a compulsory national identification card have so far been fiercely opposed by the House of Lords. The Conservative party says they will scrap ID cards if they are elected into government. But I doubt they could keep that promise, even if they wanted to. I think the pressure to get biometric identification implemented in this country is coming from a higher authority than state government. A recent petition against the implementation of an ID card scheme on the Downing Street web page racked up nearly 30,000 signatures, and despite the overwhelming opposition to the scheme, Prime Minister Tony Blair's response was to reply to the signatories telling them how good he thought biometric identification would be.

Source Times Online, 10 Downing Street