Clause 1 - The National Identity Register
Identity Cards Bill
9:45 am
Mr Patrick Mercer (Shadow Minister (Homeland Security), Home Affairs; Newark, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 3, in page 1, line 10, after 'others', insert 'who reasonably require proof'.
It is worth bearing in mind that the national identity register will exist for up to five years before a card is physically available to the population—if that length of time is incorrect, I am sure that the Minister will correct me. My concerns are exactly that: how long this is for and what the registrable number will mean before the advent of a card. For instance, when will it be necessary to provide this registrable number? In what circumstances will it be asked for and who will ask for it? All these questions are important, because, whatever one thinks about the card itself, the introductory period of the national identity register will serve to get us used to this new atmosphere in which we will be required to exist, to get us to understand precisely when and how the card will be used and as a time for precedents to be set. Therefore, I would be grateful if the Minister could explain.
Earlier comments that we have never before needed to have identity cards or a national identity register outside a time of war are not quite correct. In the 1970s in Northern Ireland we imposed a driving licence that was wholly different from anything that was used—if hon. Members will forgive the phrase; I use it for convenience—on the mainland. I have personal experience of this, which I will expand upon in a moment. The driving licence in Northern Ireland initially carried a photograph, but was later amended to have a photograph and a fingerprint. It was a wholly different document from that in force on the mainland. On top of which, of course, the security forces could demand this card. In the absence of the driving licence being available, they could ask a driver, or indeed someone who was on foot, to provide the number of their driving licence. How does that compare with the national identity register and the registrable number as a result of this Bill?
Who will ask for this number? Is it a question of being pulled over by the police or other members of the security services and this number being demanded? Or is it a number much more required, for instance, by anyone going into a bank? Will the bank clerk say, ''If you wish to withdraw money from or put it back into the bank, I need your personal number from the national identity register to identify you''? How will one's entry on the national identity register physically manifest itself? In what circumstances will it be required? Will that be an everyday occurrence? Is it something that everyone will need to know? Will they need to present it when they go, for instance, into a video store? Will one's registrable number be required at that stage? Will they have to render their number to the person behind the counter? Will it be needed when they register at a hotel? Will there be something similar to the system on the continent at the moment—[Interruption.] I hear someone say from a sedentary position that that may completely change how people conduct their private life. Who knows? Will people have to render their registrable number in the same way that they have to hand over their passport when booking into a hotel in France or Ukraine, for example? I should be grateful for an explanation of precisely what the clause means.
My amendment is intended to find out who may reasonably ask for the number: will it just be someone in uniform, and will that include a community support officer, because that is a moot point at the moment, or will there be a much broader requirement that leaves us needing to know exactly what out numbers are? Will children or young people have to have the number written on the inside of their wallets, or will they, perhaps, tattoo it on their flesh? Will it have to be embedded in their memory so that they will be able to prove who they are? [Interruption.] Again, from a sedentary position I hear a chip being suggested.