SIR - Science Minister Malcolm Wicks mooted the idea that elderly or frail people should be tagged to allow the authorities to keep tabs on them.

Mr Wicks thinks that this will be great piece of mind for older people's relatives, but I wonder if he has actually consulted any elderly people? Maybe they might not want to be tagged.

Mr Wicks added that similar technology is used to track convicted criminals. Oh, ok, so that's all right then!

This Government's obsession with tracking everybody is getting rather worrying. The new road pricing scheme will track every movement of every motorists throughout the UK. And if you decide to leave your car at home, you can still expect to get caught on CCTV some 400 times a day.

Mr Wicks isn't finished there though - he wants to know if there are any other uses of technology that can benefit society.

I'm sure he'll soon dig up the Government's recent policy review on crime, justice and cohesion, which suggested microchipping mentally ill patients. George Orwell's book 1984, should probably have been entitled 2007.

Jason Smith, Bradford.