There are so many benefits of having identity cards, according to the government, that ministers should probably be resigning for their failure to introduce them earlier. ID cards will help the fight against terrorism and organised crime, expose illegal immigrants, protect public services against fraud and fend off identity theft. Since passports will soon include biometric data, cards will cost a bargain extra £35 a head, plus public investment of £3bn.

Yet British people walk around without ID cards for good reasons - including the impossibility of producing the promised benefits without draconian legislation. There are important risks in the scheme that ministers fail to acknowledge. And the cost is likely to be much higher, as the experience of government information technology projects has shown.