The government’s controversial ID cards scheme appeared to have been kicked “into the long grass” on Wednesday, after the Home Office backed away from a commitment to award a key contract to produce the cards for British citizens this autumn.

The so-called “card design and production” contract – for which Fujitsu, IBM, and Thales UK were bidding – would have been one of the costliest stages in the £4.8bn project to introduce a national identity scheme.