That's down to the government, then. Make the NI number proof of identity.

I don't have a current passport, nor do I have photographic identity of any kind. In this modern world, I'm effectively stuffed, but I refuse to have an ID card in it's current form.

I believe that in the USA, it is a form of identity.

So the answer appear's to be if it didn't cost too much and if it dosen't carry too much info ,(here in Spain mine has my photo my nie number (national insurance) and a finger print the data base has my adress ,so if I am stopped any outstanding warrant's bill's will show up ,and as in Germany you need proof of who you are or you might be driven home to prove it.)then it would be ok .
too be honest I can understand the ,govmt data bases are not very secure argument but that could happen anywhere in the world ,and if you lose your wallet you would report it anyway if only to cancel your credit card's .so what about introducing them at fifteen -sixteen and phase ing tem in like when you get given your nat ins card , then if people want one they could buy one or the company they work for could pay ,and of course and on coming into the country would need to have one if they are planning to stay permantly.
the idea of an ID card stopping crime or Terrorist's is a joke anyway Germany had the Bader Meinhoff group ang the RAF ,Spain still Has ETA, and there are various group's swaning around the UK .

I'm not against them - if you've nothing to hide and you're not here illegally, then I don't see a problem. However, given the present Government's track record, the system will probably fall over, cost several times over the original budget and be available on eBay a few weeks after launch. I dread to think how secure the data will be....

Who decides what's worth hiding?
The nothing to hide argument isn't all that great. At the risk of invoking Godwin's Law, I can think of at least one group of people who might have felt they had nothing to hide and things didn't work out to well for them.

The “Nothing to hide...” phrase is the rallying cry of the oppressor.

Okay well what happens when I decided with my mates that we want to have a road trip?

And what happens if we're picking up some mates on the way?

So the government will be able to track us, monitor our political alignments and there will be no valid explanation as to why we're going where we're going.

Add into that us playing some games online, and chatting over skype.

"I've got the bomb, where shall I plant it?"

And then we decide to leave the country.

A knock at the door?

....

Yeah. I know, extreme case but it could be misconstrued. All of the above has happened, we decided to drive to France in July and i'm driving down, picking up a couple of guys on the way. And we've played Call of Duty since then.

No this is a step too far. I'm all in favour of the government dishing out harsher sentences - "Correctional facilities" are a pointless waste of money, just kill the murdering/raping bar stewards and burn their corpses in an undignified pile. But monitoring innocent people, taking "guilty until proven innocent" as standard? No thanks. I've got nothing to hide with my DNA at the moment, but say a murder happened in my old house after i'd moved out; my DNA would be all over the freakin place. I don't care if they have to "ask me a few questions to eliminate me from their list of suspects". I don't even want the hassle of being woken up at stupid-o-clock in the morning and taken to the police station, only to be told I can find my own way back home and suffer a long day at work the next day, where everyone will know that I was under investigation for a murder. Simply being accused of something is good enough to have people start acting differently with you regardless of innocence.

And as a form of ID? Come on... If you were really that desperate to prove your identity just get a bloody passport/driving licence. Infinitely more useful than a bloody ID card. And expired passports work as forms of ID too (assuming you want it for such things as buying alcohol, getting entry to clubs) as your date of birth will never change ^_^

Apart from a random spot check, where you have to produce your papers, how is the ID card going to show you are on a road trip? They can track the car with cameras anyway.

How do they work out your political alignments? I've got friends who vote for most of the major parties, so it wouldn't be easy to track what my political alignment is...

And Paulzolo, how do they get your sexual orientation?

Okay, I'm going from the ID cards I know, which have name, address DoB, photo and fingerprint...

You sound pretty paranoid.

Unless you are under surveillance, the government aren't going to have a clue what you are doing or who you are doing it with. Your point about going on a road trip with friends or trying to leave the country is just stupid - as it stands you have to produce ID to travel, so the evil government would know anyway. And unless you're under surveillance they sure as hell aren't going to be listening to your conversations in COD.

You reckon? The intelligence services do harvest a broad spectrum of traffic.

Is that just speculation prof, or are you going to provide a link?

And even if they do, just how many man hours would be needed to look through and log it all? Too many to do it for everyone...

Can't do a link but I know it to be a fact.

I'm talking about this hypothetical situation a few years down the line when they decided they want to add all sorts of things to ID cards.

And not monitoring chat IN cod, monitoring the VOIP conversation that is Skype when their software deems our movements and travel plans "suspicious".

I think you are thinking that this will be information that is given up voluntarily. They make it a legal requirement of you to provide it. If you refuse or provide false information, expect penalties.