AN East Lancashire MP has called for the Government to abandon proposals to introduce compulsory identity cards.

Nigel Evans, who represents the Ribble Valley, said: "I am thankful that this idea seems to be on its last legs.

"From an identity theft perspective, it is truly worrying that so much personal information could be stored on one database. That wealth of information is a very valuable commodity in ID fraud circles.

"The Government has recently proved itself totally inept when it comes to the protection of personal information.

"At the moment, the Government lacks credibility and a proven track record in the field of personal information. People should not be exposed to this crime because of an ill-conceived policy that, evidently, could never be policed in an appropriate manner.

"Gordon Brown should take this opportunity and consign ID cards to the political scrapheap."