Fresh doubts have arisen over the government’s controversial identity cards programme after it emerged that Whitehall is considering a delay in the main roll-out to British citizens.

The setback will fuel a growing belief among both Labour and opposition MPs that recent scandals surrounding the loss of personal data held by the government, continuing problems with IT programmes in Whitehall and doubts over the cost of the ID cards scheme itself are forcing Gordon Brown to delay or scrap it altogether.