From Richard Rex Sir: In the unlikely event of the
Prime Minister’s being able to bulldoze through his proposals for identity cards before the levers of power are prised from his frenzied grasp, I propose to refuse compliance for as long as is practicable. Should the matter come to court, my defence is ready. If my identity cannot be adequately established without an ID card, then my guilt can hardly be established beyond reasonable doubt, as it will hardly be possible to prove that I am the person guilty of the charge. However, if my identity can be adequately established without an ID card, then the raison d’être of the law itself disappears: it can hardly be equitable to convict someone for the breach of a law which serves no useful purpose, and it would be mere tyranny to convict people for the breach of law whose only purpose is to convict people for its breach.
Richard Rex
Queens’ College, Cambridge
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