The government headed for an early confrontation with civil liberties critics today by putting the Identity Cards Bill at the top of its agenda.

The Bill, which was prominent in the Queen's Speech earlier, includes minor concessions described by Home Secretary Charles Clarke as 'technical'.

It also includes provision for 'e-borders' developments that will be central to a crackdown on illegal entrants in an Immigration and Asylum Bill and confirms that ID cards will 'eventually' become compulsory.

The Bill's main concession is the creation of a National Identity Scheme Commissioner, with oversight of the whole scheme, including the provision of information from the proposed new National Identity Register.

There will also be no power to make it compulsory to carry a card, but it would be required to access free public services.

That is unlikely to satisfy opponents within the Tory party, which remains split over the proposals.

One reason Clarke is to move swiftly is to exploit Conservative disarray, since abstentions among Tory MPs would offset a rebellion in Labour's ranks.

The Bill is officially intended to 'give everyone legally resident in the UK a secure and reliable method of proving their identity'.

The Home Office claimed it will help protect people from identity fraud and theft, disrupt the use of false and multiple identities by terrorists and criminals, tackle illegal working and immigration abuse, ensure free services are only used by those entitled to them and enable Britons to travel in Europe without a passport.

It will provide power to establish a national identity register with 'basic information', provide powers to issue cards, set out the information to be held and the safeguards to protect against abuse and enable verification of identity against the register

New criminal offences for possessing false documents, including genuine documents improperly obtained, will be created.

The Home Office said the Immigration and Asylum Bill 'would allow the use of 21st century technology to facilitate legitimate travel and help deter and identify illegal immigrants'.

This would include the sharing of passenger data.