Women who change their name after marriage could face fines of up to £1,000 if they fail to tell the government, under new proposals for the ID card scheme.

Fines will also apply if cardholders fail to report their cards lost or stolen, and will be enforceable by the civil courts. 

Anyone with a biometric passport or ID card will be required to notify the National Identity Register of changes to the personal data it holds.  

Commenting on reports that ID card holders could face fines of up to £1000 if they fail to keep personal details up to date, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said:

 “It is becoming clear how draconian the punishments will be for those that want no part in the Government’s illiberal and unnecessary identity database.”

“Ministers are already admitting that people will be forced to pay more for the dubious privilege of an ID card than they originally promised.

“The Government should do us all a favour and scrap this laminated poll tax, instead of making us all pay through the nose for it.”

Commenting on Sir Richard Tilt’s warning that welfare reforms could push loan parents into poverty, Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Jenny Willott said: “It will be difficult for people to find work over the next couple of years, especially lone parents with caring responsibilities. They will need exceptional support from a Jobcentre Plus network which is already struggling to handle rising unemployment.”

“The Government has failed to address the fact that the lack of suitable childcare makes it very difficult for parents to accept jobs that don’t fit with school hours and school holidays.

“It is disingenuous of ministers to say there will be no impact on child poverty when the sanctions lone parents will face will cut their benefits by 40%. The Government has already admitted that half the lone parents affected will have to take out loans to make ends meet.

“Ministers must ensure the Jobcentre network is fit to deal with these changes and that lone parents will not be forced into debt and poverty as result.”

Commenting on news that over 11,000 properties were repossessed in the last 3 months - a 12% rise - and that 168,000 households are now in arrears, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable said: “It is clear that in the face of this recession more and more families are simply unable to make ends meet.”

“Even with falling food and energy prices, some families have already been stretched to breaking point by colossal debts and the high cost of borrowing.

“The steep rise in the number of people in arrears makes it highly likely that a flood of repossessions is just around the corner.

“This is very much a nationwide problem, with both the North and South being hit hard by similar rises in repossessions.

“There is a real danger that Government proposals to prevent repossessions have not gone far enough. Following this month’s landmark ruling there is a danger that some unscrupulous lenders will simply bypass the courts.

“We must ensure that people’s homes are only ever repossessed as an absolute last resort.”

the Liberal Democrats have demanded a freeze on rail fares and called for the planned rail fares increases for January to be abandoned.The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to demand a one year freeze of these fares to help struggling families during the economic crisis. The cost to the train operators will be funded by cutting the budget for major road widening schemes.
 
Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary, Norman Baker said:
 
“Commuters who rely on trains for their livelihoods are facing huge fare increases at a time when they are also struggling to cope with rising food and heating bills. Freezing their fares would give a huge boost to many hard-pressed families.

“The cost of rail fares has risen above inflation by 6% since this Government came to power.
 
“The Government has repeatedly frozen fuel duty for motorists in the light of external circumstances, despite the fact that under Labour the cost of motoring has actually fallen in real terms by 10%.

“It’s about time ministers showed the same consideration to train passengers as they have shown to motorists.”

It emerged in spring 2006 that 1,013 foreign prisoners had been wrongly released without first being considered for deportation, including murderers and rapists.

In spite of the continuing anger over the issue, less than a third of the 1,013 convicts have been deported two and half years after the scandal broke and subsequently cost Charles Clarke his job as Home Secretary.

Many more of these convicts could now end up staying in this country because 90 are still missing, 31 are in jail again and 160 are still going through the process.

Another 399 have been told they can stay in the UK, including some who have been convicted of the most serious category of crimes, which includes murder, rape and armed robbery.

The figures emerged as immigration minister Phil Woolas admitted too many migrant workers have been let in under previous Government policies.

The Shadow Home Secretary, said: “It is outrageous that over two and a half years after the former home secretary lost his job over this fiasco just a third of these offenders have been deported and 90 have not even been found.

“Not only does this put the public at risk, it shows the government are patently incapable of getting a grip on this longstanding problem.”

Commenting on BAE Systems’ announcement that it is to cut 200 UK jobs in its land systems business, Liberal Democrat Shadow Defence Secretary, Nick Harvey said: “The MoD’s staggering incompetence over its armoured vehicle procurement programme now seems to be taking its toll on British jobs.”

Nick Harvey went on to say:

“It is hard to believe that while our troops in Afghanistan are facing a crippling shortage of suitable vehicles, the jobs to make those vehicles are still being cut in the UK.

“It is little wonder that the FRES vehicle programme was recently described as ‘the worst procurement programme ever’.

“The Government must get its act together for the sake of both our troops and British workers, and decide what it wants, what it needs and what it can afford. A comprehensive Strategic Defence Review is now more vital than ever.

“The recession is already hitting jobs hard in Britain. The last thing we need is for this to be compounded by Government incompetence.”

Commenting on Jack Straw’s admission that a computer disk lost by the National Offender Management Service contained 256 items of ‘sensitive personal information’, Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson, David Howarth said: “It says a lot that it is considered good news when it is revealed that hundreds of people, rather than thousands, have had their sensitive personal information lost.”

David Howarth went on to say:

“If the Government can’t be trusted to keep the personal data of its own employees safe, why should it be trusted to store our details on the ID cards database?”

Britain must recession proof education and not allow apprenticeships to fall by the wayside during the economic downturn, Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg said today.

Speaking at the Association of Colleges annual conference, Nick Clegg called for action on education to ensure that the recession doesn’t mortgage the future of today’s teenagers and young adults.

Nick Clegg will said:

“Education is vital to ensure this recession doesn’t leave a poisonous legacy for today’s teenagers and young adults. Their life chances are already being sabotaged because they’re emerging from school, college or university into a stagnant job market.

“It’s clear that many people are being thrown off their apprenticeships because of the downturn. If we let apprenticeships fall by the wayside, young people will be paying for this recession for the rest of their working lives.

“The best education system is one with choice and diversity, where students of all backgrounds and ambitions can create a personalised education for themselves at a wide variety of high quality institutions.”

Commenting on claims that major drug barons may be escaping investigation because of the police’s funding arrangements, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: “People will rightly be concerned that the police are going after soft targets rather than top drug barons.”

Chris Huhne continued, saying:

“The Home Office must ensure that money seized from criminals goes directly back into catching more of them.”

Commenting on today’s warning from Shelter that the UK will face a shortfall of a million homes by 2020, Liberal Democrat Shadow Housing Minister, Sarah Teather said: “The Government’s inflexibility and centralising tendencies are standing in the way of providing affordable housing.”

Sarah Teather continued, saying:

“There is a social housing crisis in the UK and the Government’s stance will make it far worse by 2020.

“Targets alone do not build homes. The key priority must be to rebuild the social housing safety net.

“Councils must be free to borrow in order to invest in new social housing and buy up land and unsold properties.”