ID Cards or Hospitals - Take your pick.

Five firms are going to be selected to provide the computer equipment and deal with the issuing of the proposed ID Cards. For one thing this scheme is going to cost £5.3bn and I think I would prefer to see my local hospital not shut down to save money. The thing about my hospital (Haslar) is it is also the last military hospital in this country and I'm not too sure, but with our servicemen and women being flown home with horrific injuries, I think It could be quite handy. Oh and by the way, the buses that used to run from my town to the hospital that we now have to use have been scrapped to - yes you guessed it - save money.

The other thing about the scheme, is that seeing as this is all about security, why are five firms going to be involved in supplying the ID Card system? How much access will each of these firms have to the information held on the cards and how is the security of that information going to be protected by the government? Surely one firm with one total solution would be easier to regulate and monitor by the government.

One more thing is that I am not at all happy that this card is going to be a European ID Card and that foreign governments will have access to the information contained on my card. A lot of people do not want the ID Card and a lot do want it. But given the choice between ID Cards or your A&E or Maternity unit staying open, which would you choose?

£5.3bn and counting. You just know it's going to be more.