Identity Cards Bill

The Minister will be very pleased to hear me say that I do not take it that he has given a commitment to any change in the Bill. I appreciate that. I, too, was interested to hear my noble friend Lord Onslow talk about another order-making power. He, of course, is asking for a good order-making power, unlike some of the 60 or so that are currently in the Bill. On a serious note, it is a matter that would benefit from calm debate between us. Genealogical research is taken very seriously. Historical research will be given real value in this register, if it is properly managed. I think that the historical aspect of it is far more useful than anything that the Government are trying to achieve by imposing identity cards on us in this way; but that, of course, is a personal view that I am not allowed to express from the Front Bench.