Re: Not wishing to trust Big Gov, but--
Most national ID cards are exactly that - an identity card. Not an 'entitlement' card that links to a database. No RFID chip or magnetic stripe that gets scanned when you go to pick up a parcel from the post office, or open a bank account. No big database collecting tracking information in real time from those scans and swipes.
The card isn't the problem, it is the Home Office's avowed desire to use it to collect data on your movements and activities, eroding your right to privacy. That's the reason May hates the ECHR, because it gives us those rights to privacy, enshrined in an international treaty.