When they have the database anyone the government doesn't like they can just delete from the database, then see just exactly what it means to be a non-person.

Stephen, St. Ives, England

I used to live in USSR and believe me, we didn't have our finger prints on a national database! The government just want to conrol us, there is no evidence that IDs are going to prevent a terrorist attack or stop illegal immigration!

Maria, Leeds,

I never thought I would see Facism in the UK.

Teresa , London,

Well, I do not see the survey published on the Home Office website. One would think that if the survey's results were so heavily in the favour of government policy, they would at least publish the survey.

I suspect the questions are too heavily loaded to be of use as true test of the public's view. If the results are to be used to defend the ID card and the database behind it in Parliament then the government should publish it or contract an intdependent opinion poll. Their claims may then have some credence; until then I will continue to believe my own ears.

Edwin, Bucharest,

Like this governments decision to follow America into War with Iraq and pass through liberty limiting terrorist act laws for the uk's citizens, do we really have to follow America into a Aldous Huxley Brave New World ??? Is it not enough that we have a national spine database for the NHS, CCTV on every street corner, analysis of cars registration number plates entering major cities and planned numbering of our children at birth as in all the totalitarian countries we have been aghast with in the past - what next retina eye scanning, verichip implant into everybody starting with children,alzheimers patients, prisoners with a view to a compulsory role out to every person in the country like is currently taking place in the usa. Are we going to have any rights ? We laugh at conspiracy theorists who say that we will all be controlled through television and celebrity culture dumbing us down and fear spread through the media to make us actually welcome such a control agenda

Louise, Manchester,

This is a step too far.We have put up with all the rubbish this incompetent government has thrown at us up to now.
Lets get organised and stop this before it goes any further.

Pat, Nottingham,

The only thing left now that would make the government actually take notice is civil disobedience on a massive scale in the form of mass protest marches that would interrupt the flow of daily life. Once the government and commerce realised that constant, vociferous marches, like the French manage easily at the drop of a hat, could actually threaten their gravy trains, that's when changes will come about, viz the poll tax riots. It ain't pretty, but at the moment the British are behaving like sheep.

Mike Mitchell, Spalding, England

DWP 85m Records,(population 170m) !!

derek bevan, huntingdon/cambs, England/UK

The government is promoting its ID system as a means of controlling immigration in order to have people accept it. But the government is not interested in controlling immigration. It is interested in controlling its citizens.

Lee, London,

Illegal Immigration will not be affected one bit by these cards. If people are still gaining entry to the country without a valid passport, what difference is another card going to make?

Terrorism would not be affected as the Govt claims. The Spanish bombers in Madrid all had ID cards as would the 7/7 bombers over here if they were introduced.

Face it, this is another means of controlling the populace. Are people really going to just stand back and let every bit of your freedom be eroded by a control freak of a prime minister and his 'do as I say, not as I do' acolytes?

I'm amazed that for 40 odd years we laughed and scorned at the USSR and how their people were numbered, controlled and manipulated for the state's ends yet some in this country are only too happy to sit back and let it happen here while soaking up the lies they are told by this manipulative government.

The next step is a microchip or bar-code on a persons body. Now where have we seen that before?

Nigel Scott, Manchester,

The statistics for this survey are meaningless unless you know the exact question that was asked. For example, if the question was "Do you believe in a national id card if it meant that it would cut fraud and terrorism" is very different to " do you want a National id card." Then add on the fact that it occurred before the Revenue and Customs fiasco and I wonder about whether it has any value at all.

Paul Lorimer, Reading, UK

What many of the 61% don't realise is that the ID card is just the tip of the iceberg. The real issue is the underlying database which will enable the government to connect together every piece of information it has about each of us - and will fuel demand for ever more information. The government will thus have a complete and detailed picture of the lives of each and every one of us. The State truly will be watching us, and be in a position to intervene when it sees something it does not like.
But of course this is ok as the State is so honest, responsive to its citizen's wishes, careful with our information and above all respects the rights of the individual - doesn't it????

Martin, High Wycombe, Bucks

An id card will be pretty much like your passport just that you will all HAVE to have one. For people worried about their information being on a system...how much more will this add to the abundance already out there through loyalty cards/employers/agencies/banks? I dont know why everyone is terrified of them. If it can cut down on crime/illegal immigration etc then I am all for it.

TBH i would prefer if everyone was on one massive database and all the government agencies linked their systems up to it. That way they could share information better and cut down on fraud/corruption/crime............but i think too many people would throw a wobbler at that idea :)

Andrew, London,

I simply do not believe that 61% of British citizens are so stupid as to support the ID card scheme, even if a survey was made before so much data was lost
Neither do I believe 32% seriously think illegal immigration would be prevented, as these people regularly drop below the radar, only coming to light by chance, accident or offence.
Face it people, ID cards are coming by stealth, like it or not, potentially accessible to every Tom, Dick or Harry in the public sector.
If I were a parent, I would now be raging at the proposed new numbering system for children, following them all their lives and in all their activities.
Please wake up, this is not the Soviet Union, and it's not quite too late.

MikeM, St. Albans, England