Clause 24 - Appointment of National Identity Scheme Commissioner
Identity Cards Bill
12:30 pm
Patrick Mercer (Shadow Minister (Homeland Security), (Assisted By Shadow Law Officers); Newark, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 219, in clause 24, page 21, line 27, after “cards”, insert “and the ID Register”.
This amendment is simple, but it begs an important question. I fail to understand why we did not get on to debating the substantive matter of identity cards until seven clauses had first been discussed. That led to comments from my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Harborough and others that the Bill, which we hope will not become an Act, although no doubt it will, should be termed the national identity register Bill.
It seems curious that the register should suddenly be left out of an important paragraph of clause 24, which involves us talking about the important issue of the appointment of the national identity scheme commissioner. I do not want to beg the point; with the simple addition of the words in the amendment, we would begin to refocus ourselves on the fact that we are talking about not only a little bit of plastic that nobody can compel us to carry and that we will not be required to surrender when someone asks for it, but the fact that there will be a national register, the objections to which we have already discussed at length. Adding those simple words would help to make things a little simpler.