ID Cards: Punish the weak, protect no one

ID cards are now among the "highest priorities" of our increasingly illiberal government.

This latest measure has the hallmarks of a piece of tabloid-pleasing tomfoolery - suspicious how The News Of The World knew about it far enough in advance to organise a survey proving what a good idea it would be, even though the rest of us found out as the paper was going to press.

If this piece of gutter-gratifying cynicism is in earnest, though, then it should be stopped in its tracks.

It's proved increasingly difficult to guard electronic identities. The Mirror, to stick with the red-top hook, reports with horror how easy it is to buy fake ID online for a tenner.

Which only proves that the big fish - the drug dealers, the white collar criminals, the international terrorists - will travel the world with ease using a pocket full of fake cards.

Meanwhile the police will find it much easier to crack down on 'undesirables' - drug users, squeegee merchants, asylum seekers and political protesters. These are people who are often just as much victims as perpetrators of crime.

Think also about how the project will be put together. PM Blair doesn't seem very keen to pay for anything with public funds. It's highly likely that ID cards will be brought to us through a public-private partnership with a credit reference agency.

Collecting citizen data is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it's an essential part of delivering joined up government services. But the electronic age makes it frighteningly easy for that data to be abused. And if that gathering is being paid for by companies like Equifax and Experian, well, they're not doing it for fun. They're doing it so they can sell that information on.