The Home Office has revealed the designs for ID cards at two launch events in London and Manchester.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson launched the design at St Pancras International Station in London, saying that it is another milestone, enabling people to “prove and protect their identity in a quick, simple and secure way”.

The card will be offered to members of the public in the Greater Manchester area from the end of this year.

It is planned to launch the £30 card nationwide on a voluntary basis in 2011 or 2012 but the government is facing opposition over the card with critics saying it breaches privacy as well as being useless and a waste of money.

The Conservatives have also threatened to cancel the scheme if elected at the next general election, which will be in May 2010 at the latest.

The ID card design shows the information contained on the face of the card, including photograph, name, date of birth, the holder’s National Identity Register (NIR) number and signature.  It will hold similar information to that currently contained in the UK passport as well as a photograph and fingerprints on an embedded electronic chip.

Mr Johnson said:

“Given the growing problem of identity fraud and the inconvenience of having to carry passports, coupled with gas bills or six months worth of bank statements to prove identity, I believe the ID card will be welcomed as an important addition to the many plastic cards that most people already carry,”

Liberal Democrat shadow home secretary, Chris Huhne, said:

“It doesn’t matter how fancy the packaging is when the product is a colossal waste of money that achieves nothing. A designer piece of plastic is not going to combat identity fraud, crime or terrorism.”

NO2ID has announced it will hold a series of campaign events in Manchester.  It said the events would allow the people of the North West “a voice in defending their way of life from this intrusive scheme”. To accompany the campaign, NO2ID will launch a new website to publicise events and help people coordinate their contribution.

“Inform yourself, inform others. Don’t be a guinea-pig. Together we can beat this insidious scheme,” said Phil Booth, NO2ID’s national coordinator.