Results 1-20 of 26 for id cards speaker:Ben Wallace

Oral Answers to Questions — Scotland: National Identity Register (4 Jun 2008) has video

Ben Wallace: The Government have constantly said that the ID card scheme would help to protect Scotland from the threat of terrorism. The Anglo-Irish treaty in 1921 will mean that Irish citizens will not be required to have an ID card, and the Government's legislation will mean that foreigners who stay for three months or less in Scotland will not have to have one either. Do not these foreign exemptions,...

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

Ben Wallace: Is the hon. Gentleman as shocked as me that, contrary to the Home Secretary's assurances that Irish citizens will have to hold an ID card or be on the register, the Irish Nationality and Citizens Act 1956 and the Ireland Act 1949 mean that Ireland's citizens in the UK are treated as UK citizens in UK law and will therefore not be required to hold an ID card or appear on the register?

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

Ben Wallace: If the Home Secretary is so confident in his proposal for a central database, why did the Home Office last month invite a number of technology companies and biometrics experts to submit proposals to put biometrics on cards as part of the ID scheme?

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Engagements (8 Feb 2006)

Ben Wallace: Both the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly have said that they will not make ID cards a condition of delivering public services. If the Prime Minister pushes forward with his ID card scheme, is he not in danger of creating a two-tier Britain, where some citizens of these isles will not be required to carry an ID card and some citizens of England will?

Public Bill Committee: Identity Cards Bill: Clause 28 - Identity documents for the purposes of s. 27 (19 Jul 2005)

Ben Wallace: I know that the details of what supporting documents will be used to make up an application for an ID card will be confirmed by secondary legislation. I ask the Minister to ensure that, when that legislation is decided by the Home Office, it makes sure that those supporting documents are protected by clause 28. When he reviews the list of supporting documents, he should remember to take it...

Public Bill Committee: Identity Cards Bill: Clause 15 - Power to make public services conditional on identity checks (14 Jul 2005)

Ben Wallace: The Government say that one reason for having an identity card system is that it will deter people from coming to this country as health tourists, but that system is removed from the identity system so it will not deter them. If people have a card and they say, “I am who I am, but I am French,” that will not prevent them from having access to some NHS services, because our NHS...

Public Bill Committee: Identity Cards Bill: Clause 15 - Power to make public services conditional on identity checks (14 Jul 2005)

Ben Wallace: ...health tourists—I think that that is the phrase. On the other hand, we are talking about the services that he, I and our constituents have a right to access, whether or not they have an ID card, as British citizens resident in this country who contribute through the tax system. It is not easy to recognise from a person’s face the difference between such people. A lot of thought...

Public Bill Committee: Identity Cards Bill: Clause 15 - Power to make public services conditional on identity checks (14 Jul 2005)

Ben Wallace: ...I am on my feet. [Interruption.] I hear the hon. Member for Glasgow, North-West (John Robertson) making comments from a sedentary position. He was clearly enjoying the previous debate from the inside of his eyelids. It is important that the provision of public services is addressed. Public services are different from public authorities. I know that an attempt is made to define  ...

Public Bill Committee: Identity Cards Bill: Clause 15 - Power to make public services conditional on identity checks (14 Jul 2005)

Ben Wallace: Exactly. They were conditioned to that process, and we should be aware of that. When that is tied in with the provision of a public service, it involves a very wide remit. In some areas, such as the Western Isles or the highlands of Scotland, air travel is sometimes the only option. Perhaps the provision will be construed to mean that everyone getting on a plane from the Western Isles must...

Public Bill Committee: Identity Cards Bill: Clause 15 - Power to make public services conditional on identity checks (14 Jul 2005)

Ben Wallace: Not a huge number across the mass of the country, then. Some people will have to take a long journey to get their ID cards. I anticipate having to go to the centre of Manchester, which is some 65 or 70 miles away. I would have to take a number of public services to get there. In one sense, I understand why the Government want the option of both a card and registrable facts, but we know that...

Public Bill Committee: Identity Cards Bill: Clause 8 - Issue etc. of ID cards (12 Jul 2005)

Ben Wallace: I want to move on slightly. I can understand that the Minister should want to defend his position on the LSE report, saying that he had no sight of the data or the evidence before the headline figures were published and that he therefore needed to give a robust response. He might therefore understand why the Opposition and Members across the House, who are looking for details on the headline...

Public Bill Committee: Identity Cards Bill: Clause 8 - Issue etc. of ID cards (12 Jul 2005)

Ben Wallace: ...the spark, but it will certainly be part of the process of protest. People will say, ''I'm not paying for it. I'm not having it.'' It will be the catalyst that results in people refusing to have an ID card and to pay for it. It will be the catalyst when someone is asked to send in their cheque and their application. That is the argument that will arise. The Government have a duty to...

Public Bill Committee: Identity Cards Bill: Clause 6 - Power of Secretary of State to require registration (12 Jul 2005)

Ben Wallace: Does my hon. and learned Friend fear that, given that the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly say that they will not support ID cards—even my local Labour-led council, which covers Lancaster and Morecambe, has come out against them—we may get into a situation similar to the one with the poll tax, or community charge, when there was mass refusal to take part in the system,...

Public Bill Committee: Identity Cards Bill: Clause 5 - Applications relating to entries in Register (12 Jul 2005)

Ben Wallace: I rise not to question the idea that biometrics should be part of the ID card system, because I am aware of the Government's commitment to the European passport and the agreement to include biometrics. I was reassured by the Minister's comments—in the previous sitting, I think—that DNA could not be included unless that was specifically part of the Bill. He said that there would...

Public Bill Committee: Identity Cards Bill: Clause 3 - Information recorded in Register (12 Jul 2005)

Ben Wallace: ...my remarks to a close at the end of the last sitting. It is important that the Committee recognise that amendment No. 34 is intended to tie down the Government on the purpose of the Bill. It was said that the database will be used to verify the identity of an individual presenting an ID card and that it will exist for that purpose alone. It will carry a certain amount of information, as...

Public Bill Committee: Identity Cards Bill (12 Jul 2005)

Ben Wallace: I shall be brief, Mr. Hood. I was not on the last Committee and could not contribute to the debate on the ID card when the issue was initially introduced. I did not have the honour of hearing the hon. Member for Colne Valley during the previous Committee. However, it is important that this time there are three Committee members with counter-terrorism experience; one was on the previous...

Public Bill Committee: Identity Cards Bill (12 Jul 2005)

Ben Wallace: Given what the hon. Gentleman has said, perhaps we should have just one Conservative Committee member to make our arguments. Would that be more convenient for the Government? We can glance around the Room and see how many Labour Committee members have been eager to contribute with amendments. I cannot see many amendments tabled by them on the amendment paper, although I know that a few would...

Public Bill Committee: Identity Cards Bill: Clause 3 - Information recorded in Register (7 Jul 2005)

Ben Wallace: ...Secretary. I concede that the Bill does not use the word “browse”, but it does not matter whether it says “browse” or not. What matters is that the Home Secretary will decide who has access, with or without an identity card being presented. That is the difference. If one looks at the explanatory notes, one sees that the Government say that this is supposed to be...

Public Bill Committee: Identity Cards Bill: Clause 2 - Individuals entered in Register (7 Jul 2005)

Ben Wallace: ...for Harborough. It is important to recognise that, according to the British Tourist Authority, some 24 million overseas visitors come to the United Kingdom each year. That is a hefty swathe of individuals who will not be subject to many of these regulations or to requirements such as having to carry an ID card. Let me give three examples of cases of terrorism in the past 15 years to...

Public Bill Committee: Identity Cards Bill: Clause 2 - Individuals entered in Register (7 Jul 2005)

Ben Wallace: My hon. and learned Friend corrects me. Individuals coming from the common travel area would not have been required to carry ID cards, so those key members of some of the IRA's most active cells would not have been prevented by the ID card scheme from carrying out their tasks. Thirdly, there were those who assisted the IRA in other areas, such as Germany, where there were bombs at bases, or...