[BBKing]

The Tories, certainly Michael Howard, are just as keen on ID cards, so no go there.

We're British, we don't do goons in uniform demanding papers. A hearty 'Get Stuffed' to that idea. Check out how the ID card scheme the existed during WW2 ended - basically a member of the public told a copper to eff off - it got to court and the judge ruled that the law was daft.

The key point here was never the ID card - it's the national database of about 50 different things about everyone in Britain (except foreigners, including the Irish, who in particular are allowed to come in without passports, either. Of course, there's no terrorist threat there, is there?). Such a database is a) invasive b) expensive and c) wouldn't work properly anyway. The risk is that if your details on it are incorrect, they are seen as correct by the entire State apparatus and you are the one who is wrong because 'the computer says so'. Technology isn't advanced enough yet and Government IT is less trustworthy than an abacus anyway.

The only people who'd benefit would be policemen with an interest in bossing people around and large multinational consultancies who'd take billions of our money and deliver a crap system.