So Gordon Brown is now wriggling on biometric ID cards and refuses to answer whether or not he supports them.

Now the Prime Minister is being coy on this great Labour initiative, will Hugh Bayley tells us where he stands, or will he wait until he is told where he stands, as on so many other issues?

He has voted for ID cards and superdatabases and all the rest of it at every opportunity, while at the same time also voting to exclude MPs from the Freedom of Information Act.

He has been remarkably silent over the dozens of CDs that have been flying out from Government offices all over the place, threatening the security of personal information on tens of thousands of York residents, and tens of millions of UK residents.

The Lib Dems have been the only major party to consistently oppose the gross infringements of our civil liberties that this Labour government has been imposing on us all.

It is now patently obvious to anyone with half a grain of intelligence that superdatabases don't work.

Hospitals can't keep information secure. The DVLA can't keep information secure. The Revenue and Customs offices can't keep information secure. Why should anyone believe an ID superdatabase would do any better?

And even if the information could be stopped from leaking like a sieve, who really believes terrorists will throw their hands up and run away as soon as every UK citizen is forced to carry one?

Those who flew planes into the twin towers in New York were carrying valid passports, so isn't it time to ditch this hugely expensive and unwelcome Labour initiative once and for all?

Christian Vassie, Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesperson for York Central, Blake Court, Wheldrake, York.