On the subject of holes and digging...

It's turning into what my old faither would describe as a dog's breakfast. The BBC reports:

The government has abandoned plans for a giant new computer system to run the national identity cards scheme.
Instead of a single multi-billion pound system, information will be held on three existing, separate databases.
...
Biometric information will be stored, initially, on systems currently used for asylum seekers, while biographical information will be stored on the DWP's system.
Other information, on the issue and use of ID cards, will be stored on the existing Identity and Passport Service computer system.

It was daft enough to think that the government could be trusted to develop and maintain a single giant system. But to think that the id cards system can be spread over three separate databases is utterly ludicrous. Dr Reid has lost it.