Identity Cards Bill

The noble Lord will know from his profession that opinion polls in Australia were in favour of identity cards until the proposals were put under parliamentary scrutiny. Then the public mood changed completely and there was a majority against the Bill. Surely the noble Lord is not going to be part of a Government that simply governs in accordance with what opinion polls say at one particular moment and accepts that debate and scrutiny over a period of time, such as we are doing tonight, is a very important part of our democracy.