I too laughed when I read about Jonathan Jones, the 79-year-old Broadgreen resident, receiving an 18th birthday message from North Swindon MP Michael Wills (SA, Sept 25).

However, although Mr Jones finds it a great joke and a bit flattering, the irony of this won't be lost on people who recognise that these little errors will be an everyday occurrence for thousands of people when the National Identity Register and Identity Cards scheme starts to encroach on every aspect of their day-to-day lives.

Far from these errors being a great joke, they will result in the daily denial of benefits, banking facilities and other everyday services that millions of us take for granted.

Moreover, these errors will lead to the unfortunate members of the public being placed under suspicion through no fault of their own, because they have been forced onto a Government identity database without their consent, and made to use identity cards which cannot fulfil the promises our MPs make of them.

Yes, we can laugh along with Mr Jones today, because he, like Alistair Flockhart who had a similar experience with Anne Snelgrove recently, is just the victim of his MPs' dodgy database. Ironic really, especially when you consider that both Michael Wills and Anne Snelgrove wholeheartedly support compelling each and every one of us on to the National Identity Register database, whether we want to be on it or not.

I foresee a time when the Advertiser will be reporting upon Identity Database Disasters affecting the lives of increasing numbers of it's readers.

I won't be laughing then, and I don't suppose they will either.

G Reid.

The Prinnels.

Swindon