THE difference between a driving licence and a fully-fledged ID card is that only the DVLA has access to the information held on you.

With an identity card, the information is pooled so personal information that normally only one organisation could access will be accessible by several.

I know more information is held on an individual than ever before, whether it is on a supermarket loyalty card or on a mailing list, but combine all the information together on one card and it's frightening what somebody could do with it.

Look what can happen just from somebody stealing a passport or a few household bills.

If ID cards really work, how come they didn't stop the terrorist attacks in Spain, a country already with ID cards? They may have worked in the Second World War, but unfortunately modern terrorists, or any criminals, will not be deterred by a piece of plastic.

It's just another one of the Government's policies that they planned to put through and won't stop until they do - no matter what the public opinion is. Look at tuition fees, for instance.

Will I have to pay £100 as well for an identity card on top of the £38 I've already paid for my driving licence?

Allan Phillips said the cards will prevent hassle and protect us from unscrupulous people. What about the hassle of always having to take a card with you everywhere you go and the possibility of identity fraud - already a problem - growing on a larger scale?

Who says that the person initially issued with an identity card is that person? And if they are so good, why doesn't America have ID cards, Mr Phillips?

Philip Lickley,

Wheatlands Grove, York.

Updated: 10:21 Thursday, July 07, 2005