At what stage, I wonder, will those who say the loss of liberty isn't happening concede that it is? Maybe if they examine page 113 of the Contest 2 (pdf) counter-terrorism document, which Jason Lewis of the Mail on Sunday pointed out means that anyone boarding a ferry to the Isle of Wight, flying between British cities or travelling to Northern Ireland will have to provide their name, date of birth and address.

The records of the movements of 60 million domestic passengers will be kept by the police and, if current trends are anything to go by, used for much more than counter-terrorism operations. Not content with introducing what will in effect be an exit visa – you must supply more than 50 pieces of information before you leave the country or will not be able to travel – the government is now erecting internal borders.

A Home Office spokesman confirmed to Lewis the measures would "require passengers to show photo ID, such as a driving licence or the (proposed) government ID cards, when booking tickets for domestic air and sea journeys".

He added that "ferry journeys to the Isle of Wight or the Isle of Skye" and "private jet passengers" would be included in the new measures, due to be formally announced later this year.

When Jacqui Smith has recovered from the row about ripping off the taxpayer – as she no doubt will because that is the way things are these days – perhaps she might explain why the Home Office believes it necessary to collect this information. It already has the record of every car journey made in this country. It proposes to add tracking devices to private cars so it knows where we are when abroad. If you sail out of British waters on a private yacht you must give the government 50 pieces of information on every member of the crew.

At what stage do we say to the government, "Enough, this is our information, not yours"?