Dining out on the ID card fiasco

Angell - or Devil's advocate?

When they make the film of the great ID card fiasco, it may well open with a dinner at the National Liberal Club, where the Great and Good of the IT industry (and your Register correspondent) warn of impending doom.

The Real Time Club has invited Professor Ian Angell of the London School of Economics to dinner to explain just how bad it can be. The RTC is almost 40 years-old and has acquired what is politely referred to as a reputation for lively debate, attracting at various times, government ministers, ambassadors, heads of major IT outfits, deniable operations managers, journos, and people with real jobs.

Angell seems to genuinely believe that identity cards will cost "only" about £10bn, and quite naively assumes the project will run only 50 per cent over the Home Office figures. This is the same Home Office that can’t even keep track of foreign criminals it has behind bars, and whose internal processes are referred to as "chaotic" by the people defending it. EDS and Accenture are expected to be bidders: anyone expect this to end well?

The National Liberal Club can sadly hold only 120 diners, but there are places still available, via the website. ®