Something strange seems to be happening. Recently it was reported about 200,000 failed asylum seekers had vanished before they could be deported.

For a government that is always devising new ways to spy on the population, it seems rather careless to allow thousands of people, about whose backgrounds it knows nothing, to vanish without trace.

A spokesman said the asylum seekers would probably be here "forever". Surely they will be here only until identity cards are introduced and they are caught without them?

That was supposed to be one reason for introducing the cards - unless it was another con-trick to persuade the public to accept them.

-R Reeves (Miss), Burford Road, Horsham