I thought it might be rude not to respond to those correspondents who joined the debate on ID cards.

There was plenty of crass scaremongering with talk of Orwellian nightmares and the like, together with comparisons with other countries which already have ID cards (most for decades).

To those who cite that the 9/11 bombers entered the US legally, I say that the world has grown up since then. A country whose government and police force do not adequately know whom they are trying to govern or police is like school where no roll call is taken -- unmanageable.

People moan about the Government and the police while expecting them to operate with one hand tied behind their back.

Michael Evans (Oxford Mail, May 31) says the Government is trying to reduce us to numbers. But you get a number when you are born, your National Insurance number.

I am only pleading for a rational system where this number is used for validating your identity when applying for bank, utility and communications accounts, in order to reduce the general mess which currently prevails and allow transparency to lessen bureaucracy and time-wasting.

I need to produce secondary ID to an AA patrolman -- and for this my old-style (without photo) driving licence is accepted. However, I wanted a replacement number plate for my car and found that where a passport is not acceptable, having no address on it, a utility bill, without photo, is. And so it goes on. An ID card with photo would solve all this.

The checking of biometric data on an ID card would be carried out only when necessary by the police. Mr Evans claims that criminals would find a way to falsify cards but this is practically impossible when biometric data is involved.

The police routinely collect DNA samples and fingerprints from everyone they arrest.

However, DNA is only of use in crime-solving when the perpetrator's DNA is already on file -- which it would be, if it were taken at birth.

DNA must be the single most useful tool in the forensic scientist's arsenal. In modern society, where CCTV abounds and Orwell's 1984 already looks tame, what is the point of denying the police access to a national database of DNA profiles?

What I have said previously on the subject of ID cards, and presumably all of the above, will be likened to fascism. As I don't respect this view, I am not offended by it.

We live in a country wracked by crime. If we don't tighten up soon, we'll have a mess on our hands which can never be cleaned up.

And liberals, loonie-lefties and limp-wristed libertarians will have much to answer for.

JAY DENSON

The Green, Charlbury