Identity Cards Bill
10:30 am
Edward Garnier (Shadow Minister, (Assisted By Shadow Law Officers); Harborough, Conservative)
I join the Minister in welcoming you, Mr. Gale, and, in due course, Mr. Hood, to the chairmanship of the Committee. As the Minister said, the Bill has been round the houses before, but we must remember that we now have a new Parliament and that this is a new Bill, and that it should not be allowed to escape scrutiny because it contains words that others, especially my hon. Friend the Member for Newark, have seen before. I am sure that the hon. Members for Orkney and Shetland and for Westmorland and Lonsdale agree that our duty as Opposition Members on this Standing Committee is to hold the Government to account.
Our view is that this is a bad Bill that does bad things, and it is our job to ensure that its terms are properly scrutinised, so that if it is to pass muster, it does so having been thoroughly and properly looked into and debated. So, we will not be embarrassed if our debates last long into the evening, or if we are criticised in rumblings from silent members of the Government team.