Acts of Parliament and ID cards

National Registration Act 1939: gained royal assent on 5 September, establishing wartime ID cards, which were then retained by the Labour government of 1945-50. Repealed by Parliament on 22 May 1952, following the legal campaign of Liberal campaigner and speeding driver Clarence Willcock.

Football Spectators Act 1989: gained royal assent on 16 November, providing the legal basis for an identity card scheme for football supporters. The scheme was never established, and was repealed through the Violent Crime Reduction Act of 8 November 2006.

Identity Cards Act 2006: gained royal assent on 30 March. It had first been introduced by David Blunkett in November 2004, when those voting against it included Damian Green, but ran out of time before the 2005 general election. Reintroduced by Charles Clarke, it became law after an epic Parliamentary battle between the Commons and the Lords. Those voting against included George Galloway.

Identity Documents Act 2010: gained royal assent on 21 December, repealing most of the Identity Cards Act 2006, abolishing the national identity scheme it had created. It was led through Parliament by Damian Green. (Full text)

All acts of parliament can be read on the UK government’s Legislation.gov.uk website.

Read the full story of ID cards’ repeated rises and falls in Card declined: How Britain said no to ID cards, three times over.