WHILE we have rising council tax, over-priced houses, soaring oil prices, useless pensions, a failing high street and manufacturing decline what do our leaders do? Introduce ID cards.

Never mind the cost, the technological failings and the real risk to future civil liberty - we are told its good for us. The reasons? Entitlement cards? No, that excuse was scrapped. To reduce crime? No, that was scrapped too. Defeat terrorism? Yet again, scrapped. This time the reason is identity fraud (referring mainly to the Internet where the cards are useless).

If they were in a football match they would move their goalposts so much the pitch would need to be re-turfed.

Most Labour back-benchers do not really believe in ID cards but blindly follow a lame-duck Prime Minister whose time has surely come. I say to them get a backbone, join with the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives and ditch ID cards along with a PM long past his sell-by date.

T Scaife,

Manor Drive,

York.

Updated: 09:37 Tuesday, May 31, 2005