I'm genuinely in two minds in this one.

I'm currently middle aged and have a driving licence. In 20 years or so I probably won't, so will have no formal ID. - That's worrying if I need to present ID to receive services, therefore some official form of ID is a good thing. By that age I'll probably want to ditch the smart phone for a simpler model and a simpler life (the eyes are going already) so will want a physical ID card, not something on my phone.

I am not sure how I'll be able to live in older age in a digitalised society, but that's for another rant.

Would I like an ID card that had all my medical record on it? Yes, I think that could be useful given the sometimes lack of communication been hospitals and GPs. It's therefore a useful vehicle for good things if they were to be added.

Do I expect that it'll be used intrusively at every possible opportunity? Youbetcha. Corporations will in due course find ways to profile with it, as they do with loyalty schemes and credit cards. State intrusion both local and foreign will also probably happen such as 5 eyes data sharing.

Do I trust that the government could actually pull this off? They can't build a few miles of fast railway. This will cost billions, result in many brown envelopes and take ages. I certainly worry about the cyber security of such a system if it happens. Whatever happens it must be a wholly UK project.

Will it stop migrants? No. Will it stop the shadow workforce? No. I don't believe it will do any of these.

I'll say it. There are far worse regimes out there, but I do not trust my government. I do not believe they work for my best interests nor those of much of society. I therefore deeply suspect the motives of this scheme and don't believe it'll solve the problems they say it will.