The Conservatives have demanded that Gordon Brown clarify his position on identity cards after he appeared to back away from plans for a compulsory scheme.

During robust exchanges at Prime Minister's Questions, David Cameron accused Mr Brown of failing to give a straight answer over whether he favoured ID cards - a pet policy of his predecessor Tony Blair.

In an interview at the weekend, the Prime Minister indicated the scheme would be voluntary for British citizens.

Asked by the Tory leader yesterday whether this amounted to a change of policy, Mr Brown admitted ID cards would only become compulsory after a fresh vote by MPs once ministers had assessed how well the voluntary system was working.

Repeatedly pressed by Mr Cameron to state whether he favoured a compulsory system, the Prime Minister finally said: "It is the Government's policy to move ahead with this but subject to a vote of Parliament, depending on how the voluntary scheme works."

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