Traditionally, Christmas has been a good time for governments to drive through controversial legislation when the public's thoughts are elsewhere. The Identity Cards Bill, just out, seeks to charge us heavily for being issued with an ID card. Not just once, but every time it is renewed, or replaced after being lost or stolen.

A population register will hold a mass of information on us. Even if someone else has made an error on it, we will effectively have to pay for the card to be updated. Meanwhile, we stand to lose access to the public services for which we have paid.


It is nothing less than a tax on existence. Far from improving public services, it might clog police stations as law-abiding people are fingerprinted like criminals, and clog the courts as people are fined £1,000 for forgetting to notify a change of personal details.


Other countries' experience shows that ID cards do not stop illegal immigration, crime or terrorism. So why have them?



Anna Calder, New Alliance, London