The Home Secretary's fingerprints are missing, and being held by No2ID at an undisclosed location. Earlier today, No2ID General Secretary Guy Herbert told The Register, a water glass thought to have Jacqui Smith's fingerprints on it was 'borrowed' from a Social Market Foundation event where Smith was speaking.

And, improbably enough, claiming that ID cards are on time and on budget. The first ID cards are due to ship to foreign nationals in less than three weeks, but the Home Secretary's dabs may be all over the country a little in advance of that.

If the glass turns out to contain genuine Jacqui Smith fingerprints. "We have witnesses," said Herbert when quizzed as to how he'd know that any fingerprints found on the glass were the real thing. And on the other hand (as it were...), it seems unlikely that the Home Office will find itself able to prove that any prints aren't genuine, without fingerprinting the Home Secretary.

Earlier this year No2ID offered a reward of £1,000, to be paid to the finder's favourite charity - for the fingerprints of Jacqui Smith and Gordon Brown, so Brown's still up for dabs. Once the group has fingerprints, it intends to make them public, as the Chaos Computer Club did with the fingerprints of German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schauble.

The venue of Smith's speech today was kept secret until the last minute for reasons of security - and possibly demo dodging. But unless Smith was prepared to wear gloves for the rest of her life, or to be followed around by a duster-armed security squad, it was inevitable that she would one day be fingered. And Gordon Brown's days, too, must be numbered.

According to Herbert the glass will be returned once No2ID has had its wicked way with it. "We wouldn't want to be doing anything illegal," he assured The Register. ®