howard denies split over id cards michael howard has denied his shadow cabinet was split over its decision to back controversial labour plans to introduce id cards.  the tory leader said his front bench team had reached a  collective view  after holding a  good discussion   but admitted it was  not an easy issue . he had decided to support the plans as the police said they would help fight terror  crime and illegal immigration. the lib dems have pledged to oppose the bill when it is debated next monday.  tory sources say senior party figures had argued vociferously against the id card scheme. among those reported to have serious reservations over the strategy were senior shadow cabinet members david davis  oliver letwin and tim yeo. but mr howard denied mr yeo  his transport and environment spokesman  said the plans  stink . he also said he was confident shadow home secretary mr davis would  set out the position very clearly  when he stands up to debate the matter next week. mr howard said the police had said id cards could  help them foil a terror bomb plot in which people could lose their lives . he added:  when the police say that you have to take them seriously .  he acknowledged there were  good libertarian arguments  against the cards  but said the shadow cabinet had weighed up all the  conflicting interests  before reaching its decision.  i don t pretend that it is an easy decision but at the end of the day a decision has to be taken.  he also denied he was afraid of looking  soft  on the issue  compared to labour. the conservatives announced their support for the government plans on monday evening.  sources within the party told the bbc mr howard had always been in favour of id cards  and tried to introduce them when he was home secretary. but the tories insisted they would hold ministers to account over the precise purpose of the scheme.  they said they would also press labour over whether objectives could be met and whether the home office would be able to deliver them. and they pledged to assess the cost effectiveness of id cards and whether people s privacy would be properly protected.  it is important to remember that this bill will take a decade to come into full effect   a spokesman said. lib dem home affairs spokesman mark oaten has branded the id scheme a waste of money and  deeply flawed . he said:  this has all the signs of michael howard overruling colleagues  concerns over id cards.   the chairman of the bar council  guy mansfield qc warned there was a real risk that people on the  margins of society  would be driven into the hands of extremists.  what is going to happen to young asian men when there has been a bomb gone off somewhere  they are going to be stopped. if they haven t [id cards] they are going to be detained.  tory ex-minister douglas hogg said he opposed the plans for id cards branding them a  regressive  step which would intrude into the lives of ordinary citizens without any counterbalancing benefits. he predicted ultimately carrying the cards would become compulsory and that would lead to large numbers of britain s ethnic minorities being stopped by police.