WARTIME identity cards were scrapped in the 1950s after a stroppy member of the Liberal Party won a court case over his right not to carry one.

Last week Home Secretary David Blunkett issued a consultation paper on having them again.

This time they will be flashy plastic affairs packed with modern technology including fingerprints and other "biometric data" such as iris scans.

Already a public generally ignorant of the arguments has been asked its views by the all-pervasive pollsters. We are told that 80 per cent of us want to carry these things.

Well I for one do not. And my party does not, which rather gives the lie to the silly claim by other politicians that Liberal Democrats will say anything to anyone to get their votes!

Fortunately there are plenty of members of the other parties who have, at the very least, serious doubts, including some members of the Labour Cabinet. So I guess that the debate is going to be fairly vigorous. Why does Mr Blunkett think we need them? Various reasons are given at different times.

They will stop us being blown up by terrorists. They will stop illegal immigration. They will stop "abuse" of our public services.

We will find them "convenient". We will even be able to remember who we are!

Trouble is, they probably won't do any of these things. My suspicion is that it's a fancy solution looking for a problem. Another case of politicians being carried away by the promises of new technology they don't really understand.

Big government IT schemes often cost far more than they say. And they don't work much of the time. The Home Office already say that ID cards will cost £3billion over 10 years - a huge amount. I say pull the other one - expect a bill of £20billion or £30billion in the end.

But isn't any amount worth it to stop terrorists? Perhaps - if they work.

But Spain has ID cards. The people who blew up the trains in Madrid possessed ID cards.

Haven't we got to stop illegal working? Perhaps - but it happens because some employers exploit people. They don't demand to see passports or other identity, they don't check national insurance numbers or even ask for them, they don't pay NI or deduct PAYE. Are they going to bother to ask for an ID card?

Carrying them will be "voluntary" - at least at first. But if you are stopped in the street you will have to take it to the police station in Burnley or Nelson or Colne (or even Padiham or Barnoldswick if they are still open). What will happen if you don't - who will know where to find you?

And don't tell me they will be "unforgeable". A new breed of clever crooks will get very rich forging cards and stealing identities on a new and grand scale. And that will be very inconvenient indeed to any of us who end up as victims of such fraud.

They are wrong in principle and they won't work. It's time to say "no".