I regard the current fight against terrorism as World War Three. We are the targets, not of a specific country, but of various idealists; the enemy do not wear uniforms and are not easily recognisable.

Their target is not land but publicity and the battle may go on for longer than the previous two world conflicts combined.

Modern transport and communication have made the world a smaller place and have also made America more vulnerable than at any other time in its history.

Radar had effectively rendered America immune from bombing, but the realisation that a small, domestic plane can be transformed into a weapon of large scale destruction has changed all that.

Extremists probably view Britain as target number two on the hit list so the Government is right to take steps to ensure our safety,

The raft of security proposals in the Queen's Speech has led to accusations of scaremongering but I feel many people simply do not appreciate how real and pressing the danger is.

And, if the experts feel a national ID card is a positive step to combat terror, I'm inclined to go along with them.

The more functions the ID card has, the more likely the public are to want one. They should be regarded as vital to everyday life as many regard the credit card or mobile phone.

Security benefits are one reason why the public and private sector need to think seriously about how an ID card fits into their world - another reason is saving resources.

How much simpler elections will be if voters simply turn up at a computer terminal, push in their card, tick the appropriate box and move on.

Use of ID cards and a terminal can also be a simple way of measuring customer satisfaction and I'm sure it's not beyond the wit of man to enable people to push their ID cards into a cashpoint to remove housing benefit pensions, child allowance or whatever - 24-hour service and no more queuing at the post office.

Two other proposals in the Queen's Speech should also free up public resources. The creation of a centralised Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) to tackle the most serious crimes will remove some of this burden from the day-to-day running of police forces.

And allowing police civilian staff and community support officers to deal with more low level crimes should free up more police officers for frontline duties.

But this will only be effective if police leaders ensure these extra resources are put into pro-active policing, namely, officers getting back onto the streets and intervening to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour.

In this way the police actually prevent crime happening rather than simply reacting to distress calls.

There seems to be a mindset within the police that you can only manage officers if you have been a policeman yourself.

I'm not sure that's right and I'd like to see successful leaders from other businesses brought in to share their knowledge and see if they can make the police more effective and efficient.

Whether it is extra police resource hours or an ID card, public bodies need to ensure they make the best of the opportunities on offer.

Published: 26/11/2004