Identity Cards Bill

I anticipated that some quite good reasons might be advanced, and I understand the reasons why they have been. They are of a specific type, and on closer examination, they may be utterly reasonable. My concern is that it is possible for the clause to go much wider. For example, it would be possible to put many of the entries on the record in the police or some other criminal register in a way that has not been envisaged or would be desirable. My noble friend’s amendment is so useful because it raises the question of whether there is a limitation on the amount of material that might be considered in the national interest, which is widely defined, and which the Secretary of State could suddenly decide should go in the register. There would be large quantities of information in the register, which, from the noble Baroness’s speech, is not the intention, but it is within the scope of the Bill. Uncertainty remains and we must consider the issue carefully.