Home Secretary admits ID cards would not have stopped London bombs

1.38.30pm GMT Fri 8th Jul 2005

Home Secretary Charles Clarke says Identity cards would not have stopped the London bombings which claimed the lives of 37 people and injured many more.

"I doubt if any measures would have stopped Thursday's bomb attacks in London. "Charles Clarke has said.

But on balance, the Home Secretary says, he believes ID cards would help rather than hinder the ability to deal with particular terrorist threats.

Asked this morning on BBC Radio 4's Today programme if ID cards could have prevented Thursday's atrocity, Mr Clarke said: "I doubt it would have made a difference. "I've never argued ... that ID cards would prevent any particular act. "

ID cards were first proposed in the wake of the 9/11 attack on New York as a counter terrorism measure. Clearly they are useless for this purpose. So what is the real motive behind the Government's intention to force them on us ?