Identity Cards Bill

I am grateful to all noble Lords who have contributed to this short debate. My noble friend Lord Crickhowell has put his finger on the pulse of why we are concerned about this. The provision is exceedingly wide. That said, I fully understand the desire of the Government to have flexibility. Indeed, I find the desire and need for flexibility eminently sensible. Here, too, however, the noble Lord, Lord Phillips of Sudbury, has firmly put his finger on the pulse as to why the provision, as drafted, is so worrying; because, notwithstanding the examples that the Minister gave, the intent appears to be to circumvent the limitations that we are attempting to put in the Bill, such as the three months residence limit, the age limit and what have you. I concede that the examples she has given are very much on the margins of those issues. There are other examples one could think of, however, whereby the limitations we are attempting to impose upon qualification for an ID card could become so broad as to make them meaningless under this clause. Nevertheless, I do not want to delay people from their dinner any longer. With a cast-iron guarantee to the Minister that we will return to this issue on Report, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.