ID hysteria

Perhaps I haven’t read enough Kafka but I can’t share the fears of state intrusion into citizens’ private affairs voiced by Dr Welford of No2ID (Letters, 22 September) and other correspondents.

Many government agencies – NHS, HMRC, DVLA, MPNI etc – hold my personal details, as well as those of many other people.

I don’t feel threatened by this: it merely reflects the large part the vast majority want the state to play in our lives.

And what’s not to like about having one card which gives access to all the services to which one is entitled?

As regards identity cards, I didn’t feel oppressed when I had one during the war and the French, for example, who have had them for decades, still seem a feistily independent lot. Whether the cost of such a scheme is value for money is a different question.

The guardians for children scheme I take to be a response to those sad cases which occur from time to time of a child abused even unto death and whose plight escaped notice.

Whether what is proposed is proportionate or likely to be effective is another matter but I don’t think the near hysteria over Big Brother which some express will help in finding a 
solution.

S Beck

Craigleith Drive

Edinburgh