Identity Cards Bill

Has the noble Baroness consulted the record of the discussion of the regulatory reform order which was supposed to reorganise the registration of births, deaths and marriages, to put them on computer, and of the difficulties that there were with people’s names? Before deciding whether this will work, she would do well to look at that. The noble Lord, Lord Desai, was on the committee when we looked at that regulatory reform order, which failed for a number of reasons. The Government had not thought it through adequately. The move still has not taken place, but it will have to. The noble Lord, Lord Desai, pointed out that people from, I think, India put their family name first and their given name second, whereas other people, as in this country, put their given name first and their family name second. This can cause a good deal of confusion. It is very important that all the names are entered identically on all databases in all departments. Otherwise, it will be in a muddle, and not only for Peers.