Plans for a national ID card scheme risk changing the relationship between the British state and its citizens, the information watchdog has warned.

Richard Thomas, Information Commissioner, said he had initially greeted the plans with "healthy scepticism" but the details had changed his view to "increasing alarm". The government hopes a pilot scheme will pave the way for compulsory identity cards within the next decade. Mr Thomas told MPs the scheme was "unprecedented" in international terms.

Mr Thomas told the MPs that it was now clear the scheme was not just about identity cards but about a national identity register.

This is beginning to represent a really significant sea change in the relationship between state and every individual in this country.

It is not just about citizens having a piece of plastic to identify themselves. It's about the amount, the nature of the information held about every citizen and how that's going to be used in a wide range of activities.

Mr Thomas said that if the ID cards did work out as the government planned they would be "a very, very attractive proposition for criminals".

Yes, let's see whether Mr Thomas's words make any difference to Big Blunkett... I guess not.