Identity Cards Bill

I think the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, has taken us down a very dangerous road indeed. It may very well be that technology has proceeded, but the basic situation, as far as we as individuals are concerned, is that we belong to ourselves. That has always been a great principle of the relationship of the individual to government in this country. The road he has taken us along says that the very essence—because DNA is the very essence—of our individuality belongs to the state. That is the last thing I want to see. There may be cases where DNA is useful; perhaps it should be used in criminal cases, but most people—a huge majority—are not criminals. Therefore, it is not necessary for the state to have a DNA profile of every individual. For medical reasons, one would presumably give permission for the use of one’s DNA data; that is no reason why the state should have it. I believe that we are now getting very far beyond Nineteen Eighty-Four. I do not think George Orwell, the other Blair, could even have contemplated the uses to which an individual’s personal property—that is, DNA—was going to be used to put him under control and surveillance. I know that this is rapidly ceasing to be a free country where the individual matters, but those of us who believe in individual freedom must, I think, stand up for the principle that we belong to ourselves, not to this or any other state. Indeed, in a previous debate, we were told that the identity card might be used throughout the European Union. Perhaps our DNA samples would also be available to all those officials. We may not be just talking about our own government, which we always trust to be reasonable—that trust in the future might prove to be misconceived. I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, will rethink his position. The noble Baroness, Lady Scotland, believes that what we are talking about should be excluded. She said that in our first debate. She specifically said that biometric information would not include DNA. It seems that she is very mindful of the uses to which DNA could be put and, therefore, wants to reassure us that it will not be included in the biometric material that will be available to the Government. I thank her for that.