Here in Thailand we have a 'house book' in which the names off the current occupants of the house where you live are recorded. It forms the basis of the electoral roll. You cannot legally be registered in more than one house at a time.
All Thai's carry an Identity Card with photograph and the usual details, ID number, DOB, gender, name, address all etched onto the plastic. You can't get an identity card unless you have a valid 'house book' entry.
Foreign residents like me have our passport and immigration documents to identify us. However, if you have a Thai drivers license (same details as the ID card) you don't have to carry your passport around with you.
A Thai ID card costs 30 Baht ( about 70 pence) A Thai drivers license is 250 Baht (about £5).
The point I make is this. Why do the British have to come up with such an intrusive, unacceptably expensive and convoluted ID card system when a (supposedly) Third World country like Thailand (and other countries I've lived in like KSA, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi) can set themselves up with a quick, easy and wholly workable system at a fraction of the cost and without upsetting anyone?