For your amusement, I present an opportunity to observe epic failure in action, live on the Internet:

Welcome to mylifemyid – the site where 16-25’s can have their say about identity issues in the UK. A few simple things to remember:

• We want to know what you think, so contribute contribute contribute. Don’t be shy.
• You must first register if you want to add your comments* – it takes only a couple of minutes.

Here’s what I think will happen:

• The ASBO generation will be remain more interested in terrorising Daily Mail readers and posting nekkid pictures of each other on Bebo than in ID cards or Government consultations.

• To “further the debate” the Government-appointed website overlords will stuff the website forum with opinions they’ve gathered by persuading school kids to fill out surveys instead of going to double maths. Quite a lot of these will be positive about ID cards. They will also display factual cluelessness and logical immaturity, thus proving they were written by Yoofs.

• The Anti-ID-cards lobby will bombard the forum with their well-rehearsed arguments against the database state. General anti-government people will also take the opportunity to put the boot in. Godwin’s Law will be invoked by the time the post-count reaches double figures.

• The forum will descend into an unholy flame war, or will be completely overwhelmed by organised ID-card objectors, and will be disappeared in favour of a non-interactive “representative sample of youth opinion”. Both sides will claim this as a moral victory and evidence that they are right: the Government will claim ID cards are the bestist ting evar, innit, and will denounce their detractors for scuppering “genuine consultation efforts”; the Anti-ID lobby will accuse the Government of astroturfing, spin, censorship, cynicism, propaganda and farting in a methane-reduction zone.

• The planet will remain spherical, the Pope will not convert to Hinduism, the film will be shown at eleven.

• The treasury will be a few hundred-thousand quid worse off.

Epic, epic fail.

* [yes, really]