| Sumario: | The British government's failure to be open about its plan for an identity card is proving costly. In May 1999, ministers announced that a £500-million ($800-million) contract to pay state benefits by swipe cards through Post Office computer terminals has been abandoned, and the reasons for the cancellation are obscure. An unacknowledged underlying cause for the expensive debacle is the Labour Party's schizophrenic attitude to anything that might be seen as an identity card: In opposition it was opposed the idea, but in government, ministers have discovered the need to identify citizens individually, not least to deter social-security fraud estimated at several billion pounds per annum.
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