Results 1-20 of 78 for id cards speaker:Charles Clarke

Identity Cards Bill (29 Mar 2006)

Charles Clarke: No, I will not give way. The third concession that Lord Armstrong has made is that, once the passport becomes a designated document, his amendment will provide for a time-limited opt-out for people applying for passports also to be issued with an ID card. I share Lord Armstrong's view, which he expressed again in the debate, that it will be a small number of people who choose to opt out....

Identity Cards Bill (29 Mar 2006)

Charles Clarke: ...will be determined on that basis. Secondly, concern was expressed in the other place—I cannot speak for this place—about the principle of whether a person should be required to have an ID card, as opposed to being on the national identity register. We are accepting the proposal from the other place for an opt-out on the principle of accepting an ID card, though not on the issue...

Identity Cards Bill (29 Mar 2006)

Charles Clarke: No, I shall not Earlier today, the Commons re-affirmed its view, for the fifth time, that those who apply for a designated document should have their details entered on the national identity register and be issued with an identity card. As hon. Members know, that was fundamental to the Government's approach in implementing the ID cards scheme, from our first consultation exercise in 2002....

Orders of the Day — Identity Cards Bill (29 Mar 2006)

Charles Clarke: I beg to move, That this House disagrees with the Lords in their amendments 22J and 22K. This is the fourth time that amendments to remove the automatic linkage between designated documents and identity cards have come back to us from the other place and I very much hope that it will be the last time. The amendments were tabled by Lord Armstrong of Ilminster, who sits on the Cross Benches. I...

Orders of the Day — Identity Cards Bill (21 Mar 2006)

Charles Clarke: I will not go through what the right hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe might or might not have done when he was Home Secretary, but I will quote what he said on 20 December 2004 as Leader of the Opposition: "We must protect our citizens in every way we can and in my judgement that includes ID cards". He said that less than six months before the general election. Of course the...

Orders of the Day — Identity Cards Bill (21 Mar 2006)

Charles Clarke: ...amendments Nos. 16 and 22. That is very good news and an important development. However, the amendments in lieu are not a real compromise as they would simply delay the power to link the issue of identity cards to designated documents, such as passports, until 2012. That is unacceptable and it would not be right to allow the other place to delay the implementation of legislation that it...

Written Answers — Home Department: Passports (21 Mar 2006)

Charles Clarke: With regard to the Authentication by Interview scheme a contract has been signed with Mapeley AbI Provider Ltd. to provide premises and facilities management services. The contract value is £55 million for a contract period of three years. Further costs will be incurred, for example for provision of IT support and for staffing of the offices. These costs have been included in the...

Orders of the Day — Identity Cards Bill (16 Mar 2006)

Charles Clarke: That is also the intention of the hon. and learned Member for Harborough (Mr. Garnier), who will now set out why he wants to destroy the ID card system as a whole and break the conventions of Parliament.

Orders of the Day — Identity Cards Bill (16 Mar 2006)

Charles Clarke: In a moment. My fourth point is that the Lords amendments would impose an additional burden and cost on the plans for the introduction of ID cards that were approved by this House. It cannot be right for the constituents whom we represent to be denied by those whom they did not elect and cannot remove the most cost-effective option in implementing a scheme. In effect, the Lords voted for the...

Orders of the Day — Identity Cards Bill (16 Mar 2006)

Charles Clarke: No, I will not; I want to deal first with Lord Strathclyde's third point. He said that the House of Lords should not proceed if there are issues to do with the Salisbury convention."—[ Official Report, House of Lords, 15 March 2006; Vol.679. c. 1244–45.] That is a very important point and it is worth recalling what the position is. First, it is absolutely clear that the...

Orders of the Day — Identity Cards Bill (16 Mar 2006)

Charles Clarke: I shall deal with that point in a moment, but the basic fact is that the biometric data being collected for passports on this basis are broadly the same as those that will be collected for the ID card system. It is absurd, not to mention costly, to have the double process that the Lords want.

Identity Cards Bill: Clause 5 — Applications relating to entries in Register (13 Mar 2006)

Charles Clarke: .... Member for North Southwark and Bermondsey (Simon Hughes) provokes me to do so directly. Let me be very clear about the process. The first consultation document that this Government issued on an identity card scheme, in 2002, canvassed the option of a universal scheme linked to passports. When we announced the decision, in principle, in November 2003 to introduce ID cards, it was made...

Identity Cards Bill: Clause 5 — Applications relating to entries in Register (13 Mar 2006)

Charles Clarke: ...the election, the Bill was reintroduced and, yet again, we made it absolutely clear that once a document such as a passport has been designated, obtaining one would also mean being issued with an ID card. Nobody can claim, as the hon. Member for North Southwark and Bermondsey claimed, that our policy has not been entirely consistent on this point from 2002 right the way through. Moreover,...

Identity Cards Bill: Clause 5 — Applications relating to entries in Register (13 Mar 2006)

Charles Clarke: ...for an application for a designated document to include an application to be entered on the register. This is the second time in four weeks that these amendments have returned to the House for consideration, so I hope that I do not need to spend long making the case to reject them yet again. The issue has already been debated, voted on and approved twice by the House. A similar amendment...

Identity Cards Bill: Clause 5 — Applications relating to entries in Register (13 Mar 2006)

Charles Clarke: I do not think that the hon. Gentleman is correct. What we are saying is very clear and in accordance with the Labour party's election manifesto, which stated: "We will introduce ID cards, including biometric data like fingerprints, backed up by a national register and rolling out initially on a voluntary basis as people renew their passports." Passports are voluntary...

Identity Cards Bill: Clause 5 — Applications relating to entries in Register (13 Mar 2006)

Charles Clarke: ...that I have described indicates that there are four common-sense reasons for rejecting the amendments from the other place: costs, benefits, convenience and security. First, on costs, we want the identity card scheme to provide the greatest benefits at the lowest cost to the taxpayer. The Lords amendments would increase the cost of establishing the scheme because of the greater complexity...

Orders of the Day — Identity Cards Bill: Clause 5 — Applications relating to entries in Register (13 Feb 2006)

Charles Clarke: No, I want to make more progress and will give way in a moment, as I said. We do intend to designate the passport. We do intend to designate residence permits and other immigration documents. We do intend to issue stand-alone identity cards, but on a voluntary basis, not a compulsory basis. As we have always made clear, however, we believe that the legislation should be flexible enough to...

Orders of the Day — Identity Cards Bill: Clause 5 — Applications relating to entries in Register (13 Feb 2006)

Charles Clarke: No, I am not saying that. The Bill applies to everyone who is legally resident in this country, including Irish citizens. Once it is compulsory to register, Irish citizens resident here would be obliged to register. The common travel area is unaffected in principle by that definition, although, as I told the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden, a series of practical questions arise...

Orders of the Day — Identity Cards Bill: Clause 5 — Applications relating to entries in Register (13 Feb 2006)

Charles Clarke: ...biometric scheme for passports. That is part of the overall world approach, which this Government strongly support, to the most secure system of biometrics to protect us most effectively in a wide variety of ways. My hon. Friend's point is about biometrics for the passport scheme and not about the ID card scheme, although they are related. We believe, as a Government, that getting properly...

Orders of the Day — Identity Cards Bill: Clause 5 — Applications relating to entries in Register (13 Feb 2006)

Charles Clarke: ...go for the number of biometrics that my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Lynne Jones) mentioned, for biometrics for all 10 fingers and thumbs or the 13 that we will have for our ID cards. It is also true that there are different states of decision in different countries on those points. All is evolving. However, both within the EU and in the dialogue between the EU and...