Co-ordinator Dave Page said "The National Identity Scheme is a waste of billions of pounds of taxpayers' money, and that's before we're hit with the Council Tax cost of local councils buying in to this insanity.

"The HMRC data leak is just another in a long list of Government failures, joining the Department for Work and Pensions, the NHS, the Home Office and others to provide overwhelming evidence of the Government's inability to be trusted with our personal details. And they want to drag every UK citizen into an 'interview centre' to be fingerprinted and interrogated for their biggest waste of money yet."

Dozens of councils around the UK have already helped protect their residents from the Government's scheme by voting not to waste Council Tax payments on integrating their systems with the National Identity Register, keeping them safer from identity theft targetted at this valuable target.

Dave added "The National Identity Register does nothing to stop terrorism or identity theft or any other thing the Government is claiming. It is simply a waste of billions of pounds which gives the Home Secretary unprecedented control over the citizens of this country, and puts us all at greater risk of identity theft."

Manchester NO2ID is calling on all the councils of Greater Manchester to pass motions opposing the National Identity Register. Motions have already been proposed, and voted down by the Labour majorities, in Manchester and Salford.

ENDS

For more information or interview, please contact Dave Page on 07982 814 441, or via e-mail at  manchester@no2id.net

For more details of the HMRC data loss, see  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7103566.stm or  http://www.identity-theft.org.uk/hmrc_press_release.htm