Clause 45 - Short title, repeals, commencement, transitory provision and extent
Identity Cards Bill
9:45 am
Tony McNulty (Minister of State (Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality), Home Office; Harrow East, Labour)
I take that not as a flippant point, but as a fair one. Nevertheless, I entirely disagree with it, which I am fully entitled to do. We are happy with the short title as it is. Identity cards are the key focal point for substantive public debate and for our own deliberations. I am surprised that the hon. Member for Newark did not come back with the notion of the flash-and-go Bill, which would have been just as useful for our deliberations.
As I have said time and again, the interaction between the register and the card is important, and the register is certainly an important feature of the overall scheme. None the less, the short title reflects the substance of the Bill, and we think that “Identity Cards Bill” just about covers it, so I resist the amendment in the nicest possible way.