Cards on the shelf

Published on Thursday 2 July 2009 20:51

It would appear that plans for ID cards are to be shelved (your report, 1 July). This is excellent news for the taxpayer, given the appalling track record of government IT projects.

Your same edition states that "Tesco could launch a bid for Northern Rock". Isn't the solution obvious? Tesco should be asked to extend its Clubcard database to cover the whole UK population. Everyone wins. The government gets an ID card implementation that is efficient and under budget, Tesco gets access to biometric data which will allow it to tailor your individual "shopping experience" and the consumer (citizen) gets Clubcard points when paying speeding fines and council tax.

Even Gordon Brown wins as he could claim that he eventually has a vision for the UK and it is based on Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations – "a project altogether unfit for a nation of shopkeepers; but extremely fit for a nation whose government is influenced by shopkeepers".

MICHAEL N CROSBY

Muiravonside

By Linlithgow, West Lothian