Cost drive for cheap ID cards?

The Sunday Times seems to think the UK government are sufficiently worried about the cost of their ID cards scheme that they may be considering a cut price alternative.

The Sunday Independent meanwhile suggest the government are going to sell people's personal details from the ID card database in order to raise extra money. The government had denied this by the time I tuned into teletext yesterday evening, though they have agreed that banks, for example, will be able to check the ID card database for a fee. Hmmm.