With all that extra time on his hands, perhaps David Blunkett should go to the Glastonbury Festival this year. He might not approve of the rowdy behaviour, massive drugs consumption and mega noise pollution, but he'd like one thing - it's the one place in Britain that already has ID cards.
Yep, this year Glasto bosses will issue photo ID cards with every ticket sold in a new bid to beat ticket touts. Of course, Glastonbury's organisers have been fighting the unofficial sale of tickets to their event for several years now, initially to tackle the problem of forged tickets, and more recently to ensure music fans aren't ripped off by touts charging inflated prices.
Last year the festival insisted each ticket holder showed some kind of ID (generally a utility bill) when they swapped their tickets for an access pass. But touts overcame that measure by offering fake IDs with the tickets they sold. To respond to that, this year the festival will distribute its own photo ID cards with every ticket carrying a photo of the ticket holder and an electronic chip containing details about the rightful owner of the ticket which, in theory, an unofficial holder of the ticket wouldn't know.
Announcing the new scheme Glastonbury man Michael Eavis told reporters yesterday: "There is only one place in the world where you will be able to get tickets. That will be the official source.
If you get them anywhere else, you won't get in."
All that said, it is likely ticket holders will be able to opt to bring a valid passport or photocard drivers licence instead of getting a Glastonbury ID card if they so wish - however there will be no excuses for any ticket holder who forgets their ID.
While we're on Glasto, latest line up rumours reckon U2 and Coldplay could be among the headliners.