May 18, 2010 1:27PM 

# UK Scraps National ID 

By [Jim Harper](https://www.cato.org/people/jim-harper) 

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[Reports](http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23833259-national-id-cards-scheme-to-be-axed.do) the *London Evening Standard*: “The £5 billion national identity card scheme will be consigned to the scrapheap as a result of the new coalition Government, the Home Office confirmed.”

I’ve written here a few times before about the uneven course of the national ID in the UK, paralleling our own: [1](https://www.cato.org/2006/07/10/uk-national-id-in-collapse-us-national-id-to-follow/), [2](https://www.cato.org/2007/05/30/rumors-that-the-uk-will-abandon-national-id/), [3](https://www.cato.org/2009/07/06/uk-home-secretary-abandons-national-id/), [4](https://www.cato.org/2009/08/06/the-twelve-minute-id-card-hack/).

##### Related Tags 

[Technology and Privacy](https://www.cato.org/technology-privacy) 

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