The UK's Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, has expressed his "increasing alarm" at the UK government's proposals for a national identity card.

The Home Office responded predictably by attacking the Commissioner and with the usual idiotic claptrap about modern ID cards in 21st century Britain.

"EU interior ministers have agreed that within 18 months passports from EU citizens will contain one or two pieces of biometric data, a digitised face photo (compulsory) and a fingerprint (optional)." Actually I've no problem with digital photos on passports. Now, the databases retaining the digital information from the photos and how, where, when, why and by whom they are deployed, they're different questions. No awkward questions like this are really going to get addressed by the likes of David Blunkett, though. Biometrics, the solution to all ills. Sigh.