Britain to have ID cards in two years

Millions of British citizens will be required to hold an identity card and have their biometric details placed on a central database, after the government blocked an effort to stop the plan on Feb. 13.

Anyone applying for passports or immigration documents will in two years time be required to apply for an ID card.

The main assault on the bill came over claims that the government was covertly introducing identity cards by making it a requirement that the British public and foreign residents living in the UK for more than three months apply for an ID card when they seek a new passport with the new biometric data.