http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/07/brown_id_expansion/
John Lettice
"Get the shops to pay for it, and catch villains for us....Analysis - 'Sources' close to Chancellor Gordon Brown are floating plans to finish off ID cards entirely in the UK - although that isn't quite how they're putting it. Instead, the advance men for the Prime Minister in waiting are offering a nightmare pitch that harnesses the private sector to implement a total surveillance system while raking in revenue for the Government."