Jon Bright (London, OK): OK has been slightly slow on to this, but it is worth recording here that last Wednesday the Welsh Assembly has, in the best traditions of the war on terror, launched a pre-emptive strike on ID cards by passing a motion guaranteeing that they will not have any impact on health and education access in Wales. Welsh Lib Dem leader Mike German said:

Last time we voted on this motion the Labour Party abstained. Today, they are in support. We were expecting someone on the Labour benches to stand up and defend their party's policy, to explain the case being put forward in Westminster. But no. Not one single Labour AM has stood up. We've heard absolutely nothing from the Labour Assembly Members

This preceded slightly reports from the Conservatives that general roll out of ID cards for British citizens may be delayed until 2012, possibly to distract attention from another enormously wasteful abuse of public funds which will also be rolling out about then. Both contribute to a general feeling that the physical ID card itself may well never materialise. But what of the database itself?