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In The Big Brother House
Identity cards will be compulsory for new British passport holders from 2010.
British citizens who apply for new or renewed passports before January 1st 2010 will have their names put on a new national identity register, but will not be required to accept an ID card until that date.
A two-year battle between the House of Commons and the House of Lords over the introduction of new measures has ended with the establishment of a database for 44 million passport holders.
Once the bill receives royal assent a Home Office project team can open talks with the computer industry on the fine print of what will be the biggest public-sector computer contract in western Europe.
For once, the French are ahead of (or behind) the game. They are going in reverse gear to the UK decision.
French citizens can get by with only a passport if they do not have a Carte d'Identitié.
France is also planning to abolish the Carte de Sejour for European Union passport holders. The Carte de Sejour (foreigners' residence card) also serves as a work permit and ID.
As usual there is no harmony within the European Union and this time, thanks to London, British citizens are the losers.
