Letter: Who will join an identity parade?

Sir: Affluent and middle-income people already carry identity cards: passports, driving licences, plastic money. Poor people, who do not go abroad, own cars or have credit cards, have only a Benefit Book, which is rarely accepted and always humiliating. Outside the great 'car culture' and lacking visible plastic means of support, they may spend hours in a police cell while their identities are being confirmed.

An ID with a bar code may be a step towards tyranny, but an ID without a bar code would be a step towards equality.

Yours sincerely, RICHARD TRENCH London, N1