Labour MP accused of scaremongering over ID card jobs

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Sat 17th Apr 2010

Durham City's Labour MP has been criticised by the non-political No2ID campaign group for using the false threat of job losses in Durham to score political points.

The MP had claimed that scrapping the ID card scheme would cost 100 jobs at Durham's Passport Office, but a Freedom of Information request shows that no new jobs have been created at the office to process ID card applications. Staff have, in fact, been moved from their existing roles, to work on the scheme.

Reacting to the news, Lib Dem Parliamentary candidate Carol Woods said, "This is a shameful piece of scaremongering from the MP. She has created the threat of job losses for her own political ends. The facts show that no new jobs have been created to handle the ID card scheme. If the scheme was scrapped - as it should be - the people working on it could go back to handling regular passport applications.

"This is the latest in a string of increasingly desperate attempts by the MP to distract from her record. In the last 18 months unemployment has doubled in Durham. Why doesn't she spend her time trying to deal with this very real problem rather than inventing blatantly untrue scare stories about other parties?

Carol Woods and the Liberal Democrats oppose the ineffective and expensive ID card scheme. Carol will join with the No2ID campaign group for an event they are holding in Durham during the election campaign to highlight their opposition to ID Cards.