"Just because ministers say do something does not mean we ignore reality." The Sunday Times reports leaked emails from senior Whitehall officials responsible for technology procurement for the Government's extravagant ID Card plan which show that the people who actually know about these things are staring reality in the face: it ain't going to work, and it certainly ain't going to work on time.
They reveal that there are now plans for a simpler (but still not easy to do) system, TNID, in which everyone's data is held in a temporary database but no-one gets a card. But they doubt even that can be achieved until, at best, the eve of the next general election – not a scenario NuLab would feel happy about as they know only too well this fiasco is hardly a vote grabber.
They talk about a "descoped early variant ID Card", which sounds more like the disease itself than a friendly card providing easier access to health services (and who ever believed that?).
Some excellent analysis by Tom on Blairwatch.
UPDATE: And by John Lettice at The Register (last 2 paras, especially)
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