ID card rollout begins

[Roland Perry]

In article 
<41A527BBC8410944B9845C00335C1F6C4C17A0@SDCP3CMM345.Poise.HomeOffice.Loca
l>, Watkin Simon <Simon.Watkin@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk> writes
>"The Home Office has unveiled identity cards to be issued to foreign 
>residents in the UK."
>
>http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/news/id-cards-foreign-nationals

It seems that these ID cards are being positioned as a "UK passport 
lite" 'easier for the UK Border Agency to verify someone's identity' 
[than a foreign passport, presumably] so will someone who has been 
sufficiently checked out to be entitled to one, get any sort of fast 
track to naturalisation (much of which is working out who you are and 
why you are entitled to be here in the first place).

And I'm still interested to know if one of these ID cards will allow the 
holder to travel inside the EU (without their apparently less 
authoritative foreign passport), but most indications are "no".

Which is a bit of an insult to the UK, having gone to such lengths to 
only issue them to people who have been positively identified and are 
definitely allowed to reside in the UK - and all this easier to verify 
(apparently) than looking at their passport - so why shouldn't the best 
ID according to the UK Border Agency also be good enough for the French 
to allow a day trip to Paris?
-- 
Roland Perry