How dare the government exercise its rights. The nerve of them.

The world has gone mad. You just have to look around to realise it.

And this morning, listening to the radio, there was yet more evidence of the fact.

No, it didn’t involve buffoons like Boris or Trump or Rees Mogg or even the eejit Mike Pence.

It actually involved the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL).

You might remember that, a few weeks ago, the Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon, ruled that the way government departments used the Public Services Card and the information it contains, was illegal. She ordered a stop to current practices and the destruction of information gleaned from card holders.

The government doesn’t agree and so is going to court to plead its case,

And what’s the reaction of the ICCL and others who oppose the card?

Outrage! How dare they! They nerve of them!

Think about it.

The government is exercising its RIGHT to go to court to plead its case. It is going so because it believes it has the RIGHT to do so and because it believes the Data Protection Commissioner is wrong and has interfered with the government’s RIGHTS.

So according to the ICCL – and others – an unelected bureaucrat can instruct a democratically elected government as to how it should behave.

There are only nine countries in the world which do not have some form of identity card. We’re one of them.

The card is generally used to make the provision of services easier and less bogged down in bureaucracy. And if it catches out a few cheats on the way, all the better.

Yet there are constant whinges about “sensitive information” contained on the card.

Like what?

Your name? Age? PPS Number? Revenue details? 

All stuff the government – and probably Mark Zuckerberg – already know.

The card does not reveal your taste in music. So if you like Crystal Swing or the Spice Girls, you’re safe. It doesn’t list your sexual predilections. They stay private. If you support Wigan Athletic, nobody will ever know. And you can keep your addiction to Love Island and Gogglebox to yourself.

This is an invented problem.

The opposition, the left, snowflakes and people who should know better are jumping on a bandwagon that doesn’t have any wheels.

The government is not watching every move we make.

Are you Leo?

“No Paddy. Not exactly watching.

“Nice piece. Thanks.“