Perry de Havilland, editor of Samizdata, has a robust attack on ID cards in today's Times. Venturing into the mainstream media to put his case, Perry points out that although ID cards were introduced as an anti-terrorist device, the government has now admitted that they would not have helped to stop any of the recent attacks.

Perry doesn't want new laws to force people underground; he wants the existing laws enforced.

I want to know exactly who my enemies are by reading their freely spoken words. And when they cross the line and incite people to terrorism, I want the Government to do the one thing with my tax money of which I approve: protect me from these nutters by throwing them in jail or out of the country.

"The Government does not need more powers," says Perry. "It can use existing laws to prosecute those who wish to harm us and undo a few of the more absurd changes to the law which prevent it from doing so (such as the bizarre Human Rights Act)."

He warns us, too, that laws brought to deal with one type of offender always end up being used against different types of people. Take warning.