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Part of Identity Documents Bill – in the House of Lords at 3:40 pm on 17 November 2010.

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Photo of Lord Hunt of Kings Heath Lord Hunt of Kings Heath Shadow Spokesperson (Home Affairs), Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords, Shadow Spokesperson (Cabinet Office) 3:40, 17 November 2010

In the flurry of Members leaving, the noble Baroness may have missed that my noble friend Lord Brett did not move the first group. I am talking about Amendment 2.

Even if you were to accept that argument, which I do not, the fact is that there were mixed messages. I shall read an extract from the Daily Telegraph of 24 May 2010:

"Chris Grayling, the former shadow home secretary, had signalled that there would be refunds for cancelled cards".

So even if you accept the argument that members of the public were meant to read the newspapers to get an understanding of what the opposition parties were saying would happen with ID cards in the event that they won-that even though a member of the public had bought a card for 10 years, it was tough luck-the fact is that the position was not clear in the media and there were conflicting statements.

I encourage noble Lords to think about the wider principle, not just about ID cards and £30. An incoming Government are saying that because they disagreed with the original policy of a previous Government, it is simply tough luck that members of the public decided to act on that policy. They are simply expected to have this right taken away from them without any possible compensation or recompense at all. I think that that is a rather extraordinary principle to adopt. I also think that it impacts on the reputation of governments as a whole. Does the Minister not see that, in refusing to refund the £30, she is really developing a new principle which can only reduce trust in government generally?

I also point out to the Minister that, in the impact assessment which accompanies the Bill, and in the option that the Government believe is the right option, provision is made for the termination of contracts with contractors who were employed to develop the ID infrastructure. Why is it acceptable to recompense contractors but not members of the public? Of course she will say that there is contract law, but this surely goes much wider than contract law.

I would like to quote from a letter that appeared in the Timeson 9 June 2010. It states:

"Sir, I received last week an undated letter from the chief executive of the Identity & Passport Service. His letter contained a most extraordinary statement: 'I am writing to let you know that the Government has announced it intends to cancel the identity card scheme and the National Identity Register. To minimise the cost to taxpayers, the Government has also announced that refunds will not be provided for current cardholders'".

The letter goes on to say:

"It is beyond belief that a government department can offer a ten-year service to the public, charge a fee and then, after a few weeks, announce that the service is to be withdrawn and no money refunded. Were such an action to be proposed by a private business, it would create an outcry from whichever government department was responsible".

The letter concludes:

"I believe a large proportion of those issued were purchased, after encouragement by the Government, by young people, to whom £30 is a significant sum. Can there be any possible justification for penalising them in this way?".

That was from the noble Lord, Lord Levene, and I think that the comments he made in June are as relevant today as they were four months ago. I very much hope that the Minister, even at this late stage, will agree that members of the public who request to have the £30 recompensed will have the money refunded. I beg to move.