You would never guess from browsing on the internet that government plans to introduce ID cards are one of the most popular measures in the Queen's speech. While over 80% of us think they're a good idea, according to the opinion polls, opponents are passionate and vocal on the web.
Among bloggers, spinoff is typical. "We sigh in collective exasperation. What a great waste of time; what a stupid, feeble, cosmetic, gesture; what an absolute stinker of a policy these ID cards are," it remarks. "ID cards are anti-libertarian, will not make us any safer, will cost innumerable billions of pounds, will cause yet more splits in the government and are quite obviously only on the agenda to make Tony Blair look tough."
If there is an official opposition to the government's plans, it is www.no2id.net. Backed by such established pressure groups as Liberty, Charter 88 and the Freedom Association, it urges supporters to sign its petition, send it money and write to their MPs. Though the group's roving Big Brother surveillance team represents an imaginative form of performance protest, it is pretty uninspiring stuff.
More imaginative is Stef's use of the Pledge Bank - the latest website from those clever people at My Society - where she promises to refuse to register for an ID card (and to accept the consequences presumably) if 3 million people will join her. So far only 180 have accepted her challenge, with an early signatory appearing to be (though I have not checked this out) parliament's youngest MP, Jo Swinson. Join them if you feel strongly.
