The latest Economist has a poll (part of it commissioned by No2ID) on British attitude towards ID cards.
Around 80 per cent think compulsory ID cards are 'a good idea' or 'a very good idea' when the question does not include a reference to cost. That number slips to around 55 per cent when the question includes a £93 estimation of the cost.
That's still a majority in favour, although it is possible that spiralling costs would disperse public enthusiasm like water cannon on a peaceful protest.
So money still talks, eh? phew! But in a campaign against ID cards the 'punters out of pocket' argument could prove to be a cul de sac. Charles Clarke has already promised to cap the costs, and, if the price tag is still looking prohibitive a couple of years down the line the government can always do a mini u-turn and force the Treasury to dig deep to bail out the customer client citizen.
Then what for the opponents? There isn't much mileage in the 'it won't work' argument because, until the scheme has been tried, that will only lead to a pantomime exchange of speculation ('oh, yes it will', 'oh no it won't'). Then you fall back on the civil liberties case, but a moral argument risks being diminished if it is seen as backstop to a financial one. So the argument over principle - whether or not the state should and can be trusted to run a database that claims authority over our entitlements as citizens - should be the main battleground to win public opinion from the beginning. Forget the money.
Happily, the principle of the thing is largely what exercises the internet, which seems amost unanimous in its opposition. (My thanks to Robin for drawing my attention to this post from Monjo, which appears to be the solitary attempt by a UK blogger to pick up an argument in favour. And even then it's fairly half-hearted.)
The British blogosphere is still relatively small, but the broad consensus on ID cards could still be important. A lot of people turn to the internet and Google as a first port of call for basic information. (Try searching for arguments in favour of ID cards, and see where the balance lies.)
This blogosphere chorus creates something of a test case. Political divisions in the country, over Iraq, fox-hunting, Europe, for example, are normally reflected loosely in proportion online. But the cross-party, cross-spectrum libertarian streak that informs geek thinking raises the prospect of a straight fight on ID cards: UK Government v Internet. Bring it on.
