We had the April meeting of our next generation group this week at our offices in Westminster. The guest speaker was Phil Booth (pictured), the national co-ordinator of the influential NO2ID campaign.

Sticking to the strict 10-minute time limit, Phil took us on a whistle stop tour of the database state, making clear the important point that it's not just about having another piece of plastic in your wallet. The real problem is the massive and intrusive identity database that will back up the ID cards and further shift power away from the citizen and to the state.

That's bad enough on civil liberties grounds, but when you consider the government's record with data security and IT projects, the possibilities are horrifying. Moreover, even the government admits the minimum cost of the project will be £5.8 billion! That's a lot of money for something which won't stop criminals or terrorists, or prevent fraud or illegal immigration, or do any of the things the government claims.

The event was very well attended and made for an excellent evening. Anyone interested in attending future next generation meetings should click here to sign up the email list or click here to join our Facebook group.