ID cards already here

Published on Thursday 3 July 2008 21:33

It is good to know there is lively opposition to identity cards (your report, 1 July) but, alas, in Scotland they are already with us.

In 2003, four local authorities made access to school meals available only on production of a YoungScot card carrying name, address, date of birth, photograph, an EU logo, a unique number and a smart chip "allowing for a variety of applications". Other local authorities have followed suit.

Moreover, since April 2006, the elderly and disabled have had to present a Scottish public services Entitlement Card to obtain concessionary travel, and accompanying literature makes clear that in future other services, at local and national level, including the health service, are to be added to this uniquely numbered "bus pass" and that personal records are to be kept at a national register of citizens' accounts.

So, although identity cards are not compulsory for the great swathes of the population already covered, many people must find it difficult to avoid their use. And to a 12-year-old achieving the YoungScot card is a rite of passage; young people will associate the cards with the many benefits they confer on the carrier and with the child debit cards issued by banks.

This surveillance creep has not featured on any party's manifesto but Scotland is showing how identity cards can be introduced surreptitiously and with virtually no comment by the media.

MARY ROLLS

Westerkirk

Langholm, Dumfriesshire