Nanny Gets Cold Feet

In a rare bout of candour, one of Nanny's chums has admitted that Nanny may have over-egged her pudding in respect of her hardsell of ID cards.

Tony McNulty, the poor sap of a Home Office minister responsible for the project, has told a left-wing think tank that ID cards are not the cure all panacea for terrorism or fraud.

Er, haven't we been saying that for months now?

See Top Ten Reasons Why ID Cards Are Bollocks

However, dear old Nanny stubbornly refuses to give way on the issue; instead she will cleverly allow the Lords to stop this daft scheme, then blame them.

McNulty knows this, and admitted that a battle between the Commons and the Lords about whether the cards become compulsory would end in deadlock.

McNulty is quoted as saying:

"Perhaps in the past the government, in its enthusiasm, oversold the advantages of identity cards.

We did suggest, or at least implied, that they might well be a panacea for identity fraud, for benefit fraud, terrorism, entitlement and access to public services."

Adding that in its "enthusiasm", Nanny had over-emphasised the benefits to the state rather than for

"the individual in providing a gold standard in proving your identity".

"There are now so many almost daily occasions when we have to stand up and verify our identity."

The money spent on these worthless documents would be better spent on the police and other value adding services.

By the way, although the current push for ID cards is coming from Nanny and her cronies, let us not forget who started the ball rolling on this issue back in the 90's.

None other than dear old Michael Howard!

His continued support for ID cards cost the Tory party a good few votes in the last election.

Pity now, after the election, that they have only just realised what a bad idea they are.