U-turn identifies a leader trying to salvage chances for election

THE Home Secretary's decision to abandon compulsory ID cards is a victory for personal liberty and for economic common sense. However, his plan to continue with ID cards on a voluntary basis is a fudge – and an expensive one, at that – designed only to let the Prime Minister save face. Above all, the binning of compulsory ID cards is proof that this government has abandoned any sort of consistency in favour of electoral expediency.

Gordon Brown always talks about taking hard decisions but the only decisions he seems to be taking at the moment are those that will help avoid electoral defeat.

The original plan to introduce ID cards was part of David Blunkett's attempt to app...