Identity Cards Bill

I again congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, on the constructive way in which she introduced her probing amendments. If our debates go along those lines, we will certainly make sensible progress. In Committee on another Bill, I made a speech on which one or two of my colleagues chided me as being a little political, so I shall be careful not to be too party-political on this occasion. In my short time since June here, I have noticed that there seems to be an understandable pattern. Those who disagree with what the Government are proposing get up, make speeches, attack it, criticise it, make comments and ask sensible questions, such as the ones that we have just heard. However, those of us who think that this is a great advance have often sat on our hands and allowed the debate to run and our good friends on the Front Bench to deal with it. It is incumbent on those of us who think that this is a good idea to get up and say so from time to time and enter the debate. My first point is that, having come relatively recently from the other place—as people here know—I can testify that this is a hugely popular proposal. It is one that we have been considering for some years now—I think that the first proposal was in 2002. In my constituency, I had people coming to me saying that it would help them in a number of ways. To be honest, those people who have most recently become British citizens are those who will welcome it most of all and be really pleased to receive something that testifies and proves to people that they are British citizens. Although the noble Baroness said that she would take account of the fact that the proposal was included in our manifesto, we all also need to take account of the fact that it is popular around the country, notwithstanding the problems that may arise. Our task is to try to overcome those problems, rather than to use them as excuses for not making progress. It worries me that some things that have already been said, including by my noble friend the former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, seem rather negative.