Politics.co.uk reports on the 50th anniversary of ID cards being abolished in Britain. It’s worth a read, but if you don’t have time, check out the summary:

What does the story of Britain’s first relationship with ID cards tell us? There are two important lessons. Firstly, the view that police will begin to routinely use powers given to them for very specific purposes for areas we hadn’t intended is substantially vindicated by the historical data.

Secondly, there appears to be something uniquely unnatural about the combination of identity cards and Great Britain. The continent never took such great offence at the imposition of identity cards, nor mandatory local authority registration. Even today, Europeans visiting the UK struggle to understand the depth of passion aroused by the mere idea. But in Britain, where the concept of privacy so pervasive and innate as a national characteristic, the cards entail something else entirely. If ID cards are finally introduced, the government will find considerable opposition, even rebellion. The question is, will it make any difference?