COMPULSORY, official identity cards which Mr A Fisk (Letters, January 31) wants to be restored would pose a serious threat to liberty. The government is desperate to introduce them, not to prevent crime, but to gain more and more power.

In fact, ID cards have already been brought in, in the form of the new drivers licence. Thus, an ID card will be imposed on more than half the adult population.

Next, unless we resist, ID cards, as 'smart' cards with a microchip, will be forced on everyone, under the smokescreen of 'anti crime' and 'anti terrorism.'

These smart ID cards will hold all one's details: medical, employment, national insurance, driving licence, convictions, etc. Soon after, the card will be combined with bank and credit cards.

There will be no choice but to use this card for all financial transactions. Computers will tax every financial transaction, thus helping Big Brother confiscate more and more money.

Moreover, the state will be able to track any citizen by computer, by examining his purchases. If it chooses, it can immobilise him by freezing every monetary transaction he tries to make.

Futuristic nonsense? No, it is happening. Not only is Big Brother introducing ID cards by stealth, it has sponsored experiments with 'smart' cash.

Naive citizens calling for the introduction of ID cards risk creating a totalitarian monster.

VERNON CLARKE, Richmond Street, Burnley.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.