Electoral Fraud (Northern Ireland) Bill
9:30 am
Mr Des Browne (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Northern Ireland Office; Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Labour)
I welcome you to the Chair, Mr. Amess. I understand that although this is not the first occasion on which you have chaired a Committee, it is the first time that you have chaired a Bill Standing Committee. I am sure that you will guide us appropriately and keep us in good order, as Mr. Hood did on the first day of our deliberations.
If the probing aspect of the amendment is designed to make me repeat what I have said on several occasions about the Bill's objectives, I am happy to do so. The Government have always said in the first instance that the new electoral identity card would be voluntary. As I have explained on Second Reading and in Committee, it is important that it remains so.
The amendment's wording is careful, and I think that it is designed to ensure that the identity card remains voluntary but not for long—that it should not be compulsory yet. However, the amendment would make the card compulsory, which is against the spirit of the Government's intention. The electoral identity card is intended to cover only those individuals who do not have a passport or driving licence. Later, we shall explore the possibility of adding another form of permitted secure photographic identification, subject to conditions.
Unfortunately, not all voters in Northern Ireland will have had the benefit of hearing the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Lembit Öpik) describe the card as a ``passport for democracy'' or ``licence to vote''. They may see the amendment as an attempt to introduce a national identity card by the back door, and I would have some sympathy for them if they did so. They may say, ``If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck.''
Whether there should be a national identity card is a debate for another day. If it ever takes place, it will be interesting to hear the hon. Gentleman's contribution. However, requiring the people of Northern Ireland to carry an identity card, even a passport for democracy or licence to vote, is not part of our measures to combat electoral fraud.
We cannot risk the proposed electoral identity card being seen as a national identity card. As a significant number of voters in Northern Ireland will share the hon. Gentleman's view about a national identity card, they may reject this card and the scheme of the Bill will fail. Those who do not have passports, driving licences or any other secure photographic identity documents will be disfranchised. As I have said before, our information shows that those without passports or driving licences are more likely to be elderly. For those elderly and law-abiding citizens, it would be a double demerit if the amendment were accepted and they were prevented from exercising their vote.
That is not to say that the Government have abandoned their long-term aim of an electoral smart-card system. As I explained on Second Reading, such a card would probably incorporate some biometric data for checking identity. There is no question that if technology had been available, was considered to be robust enough and could have been introduced in our time scale, the Government would have presented a Bill that moved significantly towards that. However, we could not be confident that such technology was available. Photographic identification was therefore proposed.
Smart-card electoral voting is some way off and, for many of the same reasons for rejecting the amendment, it could only come about following extensive consultation. We would need a broad consensus in favour of collecting biometric data and recording it on cards for voting or other purposes. I hope that my explanation helps the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire. If he is persuaded that we have not abandoned his long-term objective of smart-card technology and accepts that there are significant demerits, perhaps he will be persuaded to withdraw the amendment.