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Children aged 11 to have prints stored
 Mathew Hickley
Millions of children as young as 11 are to have their fingerprints taken and stored on a Government database, according to leaked Whitehall plans.
The Home Office wants to include children in its biometric passport scheme in three years' time, and automatically transfer their details and fingerprints to the controversial new national identity database when they turn 16.
Last week Tony Blair admitted police would be allowed to trawl that database in the hope of finding matches to evidence from unsolved crimes - sparking fears of 'inevitable' miscarriages of justice.
Yesterday opponents said the leaks revealed Labour ministers plotting a "sinister" extension of state surveillance powers.
All adults applying for a new passport from next year - or renewing their passport from 2009 - will have to travel to an interview centre and have their biometric details including fingerprints scanned and added to the National Identity Register.
Until now it was thought that under-16s would be exempt, as they are not included in the ID card scheme.
But the leaked documents reveal plans to include them in the passport measures from 2010.
Children's data would be held separately on the Immigration and Nationality Directorate's database, which is also used to store fingerprints from asylum seekers.
But when the youngsters turn 16 their data would be transferred to the National Identity Register database alongside adults.
That database will be available for police to trawl for crime suspects.
Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said the plans "bordered on the sinister" and accused ministers of trying to end the traditional presumption of innocence.
The leaked documents also warn of more substantial hikes in passport fees later this year, to boost Home Office funding for the scheme.
The cost of an adult passports is likely to rise by £10 to £76. When Labour came to power they cost only £18.
The Home Office would not comment on the leaks in detail but said: "No minimum age for fingerprinting has yet been agreed by the UK or the EU."
According to insiders the age of 11 is being considered because children's passports last for five years, and anyone over the age of 16 must have their fingerprints in their passport - even if a passport they acquired before turning 16 has a few years left to run.
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