When will this government stop missing the point?

I understand from the Guardian that John Reid is planning to introduce mandatory fingerprinting and photographing of resident foreigners. Now, whilst I will get a certain degree of ironic pleasure from knowing that my American ex-wife and Labour Party member will probably be made to join the 700,000 likely to be called up to sign away their civil liberties, there is, as always, a more important point.

This will doubtlessly be trumpeted as a means to address the issue of illegal migration, part of this government's shameful record of pandering to the Daily Mail. It will give every impression of being designed to address genuine, if somewhat flawed, concerns, without actually addressing the real problem. Because, let's face it, the 700,000 forced to play this game will be the very ones who are here legally and visibly, paying taxes, contributing to the economy, whereas the ones supposedly being dealt with are the ones that this Government can't find, and who therefore won't be receiving their freshly minted ID cards.

Best of all, because foreigners will need to provide their fingerprints and photographs before they come to this nation, they'll need to visit a British embassy or consulate in their own country, which means applying in person. There will be 150 screening centres to cover the 169 countries affected. How much do you want to bet that that number will be disproportionately weighted towards the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand? How many do you think will be placed in India, or anywhere poor and/or economically insignificant? And, of course, there is no guarantee that even if you travel internationally to somewhere where you can undergo screening, your application to travel to the United Kingdom will be approved.

Even the Americans allow you to come to their country before they photograph and fingerprint you, and I can just imagine the uproar if, say, the Americans were to introduce a system similar to the one proposed, with Glaswegians having to come to London for processing so that they can go to Disney World on holiday.

This will doubtless damage our nation, impacting on academic exchanges, providing evidence if evidence were needed that our immigration policy is institutionally racist (making it harder for people from the developing world to come is institutional racism - the criteria for admittance should be the same regardless of where you're coming from, and you shouldn't make it easier for some than for others), and harming our reputation in the world.

But that would involve a measured consideration of the consequences of this policy, and I fear that this government continues to shoot first and ask questions later.