JACK Straw must be wondering about the loyalty of his East Lancashire colleagues following his Cabinet bust-up with his successor as Home Secretary David Blunkett over identity cards.

The Foreign Secretary and Blackburn MP can normally count on the backing of his fellow MPs from the area.

But following Mr Blunkett's statement this week making clear he intended to start bringing in ID cards by stealth, despite the decision not to consider final approval for the controversial documentation for ten years, that support seems thin on the ground.

Rossendale and Darwen MP Janet Anderson (his former secretary), Pendle's Gordon Prentice (normally a civil liberties campaigner) and Ribble Valley Tory Nigel Evans have all strongly backed the cards.

And even the normally faithful Greg Pope and Peter Pike have been lukewarm in their criticism.

Indeed Hyndburn's Mr Pope said: "I have no objection in principle. I am sceptical about whether creating a whole new raft of offences such as failure to carry an ID card, failure to have one, or possessing a forged one is a wise move.

"It's going to be incredibly expensive and we could end up wasting a lot of police time and effort pursuing people over ID cards when they should be fighting crime."

And Burnley MP Mr Pike agreed: "I am just concerned with the practical implications such as how much money will be needed and how much police time will be required."

ESSEX MP Bob Russell has got a cool reception from Accrington Stanley fan Greg Pope over his decision to put down a Commons motion praising the club and fellow "back from the dead'' football teams Aldershot Town and Bradford Park Avenue on their success in this year's FA Cup.

Hyndburn MP Mr Pope said: "If he was serious about it, Mr Russell might have had the manners to contact the MPs for Accrington, Aldershot and Bradford first. It looks like another Liberal Democrat publicity stunt.''