The Government's announcement that workers at UK airports will be amongst the first Britons to get ID cards has been met with great concern by members of the British Airline Pilots' Association (BALPA). BALPA General Secretary Jim McAuslan said "BALPA will not stand by and allow policies to be introduced by administrative means that don't have the consent of Parliament."

"The implication of not being able to work as a pilot without a UK ID is nothing short of coercion," he said. "It also raises questions about the many professional non-UK pilots flying for UK airlines that will not be able to secure an ID card.

"On a practical level, and from what is known about the plans, this would be an additional requirement to the existing criminal record check, the five-year reference check, the existing airside pass process which itself varies from airport to airport and the inconsistent security regimes practised at check in at individual airports.

"The combination of all of these existing checks is already seen by the majority of pilots as uncoordinated, intrusive, unprofessional and has been shown in surveys to be highly stressful and a growing threat to flight safety.

"The Home Secretary's proposals offer no improvements in security or any other benefits, as far as we can see."

Jim McAuslan said the addition of this extra tier would be madness without a fundamental rethink of the security treatment of Flightcrew.

"If the Government is serious about 'joining up' they need to go back to first principles."