UK Borders Bill

The introduction of compulsory biometric ID cards for people from outside the European economic area and the EU will begin in 2008. The Minister’s programme will overlap with the development of voluntary ID cards for UK citizens. I am not quite clear what time scale he is now putting forward for the introduction of voluntary ID cards and how that fits in with the compulsory programme for foreign nationals that he is talking about. I wonder whether he could set out the assumptions that he is making.