Identity Cards Bill

Neither the noble Lord, Lord Phillips, nor the noble Earl, Lord Onslow, are being in the least bit silly. This is an important issue. We are very clear that the system works. The noble Earl, Lord Northesk, also has concerns about it. It was for that reason that we had all this machinery in Committee Room 4 yesterday. Some of the experts dealing with this were available to Members of the House, who could go upstairs to the Room, have their biometric fingerprints taken, try out the iris scanner and see how it worked, and do the verification. I do not know whether it would be possible, but if noble Lords felt it would be helpful now that we have a better understanding of these issues, I would be more than happy to see if the House would facilitate a return of that demonstration so people had another opportunity to see it. I would also be happy to put together a document in sufficiently clear form that could walk people through how this works.