Relatório da LSE arrasa proposta de criação de BI no Reino Unido

A time-honoured tradition

It is unlikely that anyone will believe the government's cost estimates for its pet ID card scheme after today's devastating report from the London School of Economics (LSE).

Just 24 hours ahead of a crucial Commons vote on the proposed ID card scheme, a panel of 14 professors at the LSE highlighted 10 potential pitfalls and concluded that the current scheme was "neither safe nor appropriate", and will cost double, triple or even quadruple the government's estimates.###

The main finding of the report, says the entire scheme, which has been budgeted at £5.8bn, is more likely to cost a minimum of £10.6bn and possibly as much as £19bn.

Once again the political clout of the school, which seems to be closely wired into parliament, Whitehall and the Bank of England, is being felt by ministers. No matter how loudly they protest, politicians and the public are going to believe, based on the school's track record of research, the LSE's £19bn figure rather than the government's own £6bn.

The strength of the LSE is that it is close to the political process: the present director Sir Howard Davies moved there from running the Bank of England and his place was taken by former LSE professor Mervyn King. The chairman of the Commons education committee, Barry Sheerman, sits on its board of governors, along with Labour peer Lord (Frank) Judd. Also on the board are Tory MPs Virginia Bottomley and Richard Shepherd, not to mention Lord Saatchi and Lady Howe.

(agradeço ao LA a dica)