Haven't those people whingeing about the possible introduction of identity cards got anything more important to worry about right now?

As hundreds of thousands of near-starving Afghans flee across borders, firefighters continue to search for dead bodies amid the ruins in New York and the rest of us fear we are on the brink of World War III, it seems a luxury to bleat on about the fact we, in Britain, might have to carry a card revealing who we are.

Some have argued passionately, and incredibly insensitively, that this is an attack on the freedom of the individual. (Have they seen the news over the past two and a half weeks?) A North-East criminal justice expert joining the debate this week, told The Northern Echo that, apart from reassuring the public, he didn't think ID cards would do any good.

But isn't reassuring the public good enough reason alone? People in the North-East are so scared about the prospect of chemical warfare that Army surplus stores have sold out of gas masks. Terrorists want to create a climate of fear and panic and, so far, they are doing a pretty good job.

Those opposed to ID cards say they wouldn't have stopped the events of September 11. But, given that some of the terrorists once lived in Britain, who's to say one could not have been discovered carrying false ID months before?

I don't want to return to the sort of environment I grew up in, where shoppers were routinely stopped and searched by soldiers, where motorists were regularly pulled over at checkpoints to hand over photographic ID driving licences and have their cars examined. But, in Northern Ireland, we lived with terrorism on our streets every day. Most people learned to accept such measures and, eventually, were actually reassured by them.

In the circumstances, carrying another plastic identity card in my wallet hardly seems worth making a fuss about. It might even help add to the feeling of protection and security we so desperately need. And if that results in fewer people walking about the streets of the North-East carrying gas masks, it's worth it.

THE celebrity couples' version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire brought much-needed light relief to our TV screens this week. Jonathan Ross and his wife Jane, back together again after a separation, were good humoured and relaxed. But I squirmed as I watched the barbed exchanges between GMTV presenter Fiona Phillips and husband, GMTV editor, Martin Frizzell.

She pointed out she got her job before he became boss. "But I still tell you what to do," he said. She didn't laugh. Finally, when Chris Tarrant, cheque in hand, asked: "Who shall I give the money to?" Fiona purred: "Me, I earn most of it anyway." Her husband, emasculated in front of millions, didn't respond. Why not get Fiona and Martin on the This Morning sofa to take up where Richard and Judy left off? Viewing figures would soar.

IF actor Dougray Scott's drastic display of kissing his wife at the premiere of his new film Enigma was calculated to disprove rumours linking him to co-star Kate Winslet and others, he failed miserably. Such an over-the-top public show of affection just made him appear desperate and guilty. The look on his wife's face said it all. If she believed he hadn't been up to anything before, she certainly doesn't believe it now.

Published: Friday, September 28, 2001