Clause 19 - Use for purposes of public authorities etc.
Identity Cards Bill
10:30 am
Edward Garnier (Shadow Minister, (Assisted By Shadow Law Officers); Harborough, Conservative)
I rise to support amendment No. 181 and to speak to our amendments Nos. 65, 66, 67, 68 and 69, which would achieve by a process of salami slicing the same outcome as amendment No. 181. The further that we get into the Bill, the more horrific is the creeping nature of the powers that the Secretary of State will be accorded. Although the Minister of State has accepted that we are discussing a Christmas tree of a Bill, the glaring nature of that description becomes more apparent as we turn its pages.
Clause 19(1) states:
“The Secretary of State may, without the individual’s consent, provide a person with information recorded in an individual’s entry”,
while subsection (4) deals with the provision of that information without consent to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. It states:
“The provision of information not falling within paragraph 9 of Schedule 1 is authorised by this section where the information is provided to the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs”—
and to quote paragraph (f) of the subsection, which I wish to highlight—
“for other purposes specified by order made by the Secretary of State.”
That is a classic example of the vague and impenetrable nature of the Bill. The Secretary of State, no doubt with some form of parliamentary scrutiny—but not much, as we know from experience—is enabled to do more or less what he likes, but we do not know his intentions.