Renew passport now to avoid Government database

11.09.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 26th Sep 2006

Chelmsford Lib Dem Stephen Robinson and his son post off passport application to beat the 5 October changes

A warning has been issued that anyone renewing their passport after 5 October will pay a much higher fee and have new, personal details stored on a massive database. So anyone wanting to avoid this is advised to renew now even if their passport has a few years to run, or apply for their first if they don't have one. A Chelmsford campaigner has done just that.

The Government is creating an identity database on every single UK citizen - children included. After 5 October, anyone applying for a passport for the first time will have to attend an interview.

Later in the year, both new and renewing people will be interviewed and have their fingerprints taken and their eye scanned, and it will cost more. Last December the cost of a passport went from £42 to £51; on 5 October it will go up to £66 - all to help pay for the identity database. That is a 57% rise in under a year.

To avoid all of this, local Liberal Democrat campaigner Stephen Robinson has ensured his passport is up to date and applied for one for his son. Said Mr Robinson, "The planned NHS database (which is nothing like as a large as the identity database) is already proving a nightmare of problems and cost overrun; the identity database has much greater scope for going wrong.

"Liberal Democrats oppose the database because of the huge cost (the money would be better spent on more police officers), the potential for errors and unreliability, and that it will not achieve any of the things its proposers claim.

"The Lib Dems back the campaign for early passport renewal - www.renewforfreedom.org - and the campaign against the ID database - www.no2id.net"