I grew up in Rhodesia during the 1970s and I lived in a very security conscious environment. I remember one day, the bomb squad came to our school and blew up a teachers bag as the teacher in question had left it somewhere they shouldn’t. 

Personally, I have no problem with things like ID cards…….in principle. However, the concern I have is how the data would be used. Local councils already sell our data to make money, and there have been plenty of scandals recently where personal data has been lost by government officials or 3rd party companies they use.

Its all very well having this data and information about people but it must be used correctly and the judicial system must have the power to deal with people who are a genuine threat to our country. Last week, a Dutch member of parliament was banned from entering the UK because he wanted to show a film to a group of Lords (so not a public broadcast). The government didn’t approve of the subject matter so banned an EU citizen and a democratically elected official from entering the UK before he had actually done anything.

This is an example of what Dame Stella means. There is a very good film called ‘Taking Liberties’ which highlights how people’s rights have been eroded. Its well worth watching.